TCR World and life

6 FEATURE It’s surprising, perhaps, to realise that it was all the way back in 2014 that the news of TCR was first released to the motorsport press. Marcello Lotti promised a ‘pyramid’ of Touring Car racing that would provide a common platform for global, regional and national series and so reignite the kind of interest in ‘grass roots’ Touring Cars seen in the era of Super Touring and Super 2000. So much has happened since that first announcement, but his vision proved to be absolutely correct and TCR cars have competed in national championships from Australia to Russia and provided the technical basis for the current FIA World Touring Car Cup, WTCR. A little over five years ago, the very first time TCR cars rolled out onto a racing circuit to compete was at Sepang in Malaysia in the opening round of the TCR International Series. Seventeen entries, using cars from five different brands, took part in that opening race weekend which ran as part of the support package for the Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix. Stefano Comini won the first- ever TCR race in a Target Competition SEAT Léon and victory in Race 2 went to Jordi Gené in another SEAT, run by Team Craft-Bamboo Lukoil. Comini went on to win the inaugural TCR International Series title, repeating that feat the following year when he drove a Volkswagen Golf GTI for the Leopard Racing team. By then, Marcello Lotti’s ‘pyramid’ was steadily taking shape. TCR Asia became the first TCR regional series in late 2015, with the Honda Civic of Michael Choi securing the Drivers’ title, while Italy, Germany and Benelux were among the first to announce TCR national championships. TCR Europe, another of the major regional series, ran using a number of different formats, with Pierre-Yves Corthals winning the TCR Trophy Europe in 2016 and Aurélien Comte taking the 2017 title in a one-off meeting at Adria in Italy.