2017 TCR International Series News & Rumours

[jsmee]

Originally Posted by Mark0994

I think it's ideal time to allow manufacturer teams in International series

Why?

The whole point is that the cars are run on a customer-support basis. It works well enough for GT3, why not also touring cars? It's a brilliant format and will one day see the end of WTCC I'm sure.

[Bramzel]

Agreed, factories can supply drivers and engineers but the teams should be privateers.

[Mark0994]

Originally Posted by Bramzel

Agreed, factories can supply drivers and engineers but the teams should be privateers.

I agree but last season only WRT and Leopard payed for Comini and Vernay and they still didn't received 5-6 monthly pays.

[thlbtcc]

Originally Posted by jsmee

Why?

The whole point is that the cars are run on a customer-support basis. It works well enough for GT3, why not also touring cars? It's a brilliant format and will one day see the end of WTCC I'm sure.

True that, but GT3 also allows works team too. Best of both worlds.

[Bramzel]

Originally Posted by thlbtcc

True that, but GT3 also allows works team too. Best of both worlds.

Officially they don't, they're all private teams with factory support. Manthey, AF Corse, M-Sport. The support goes as far as paying the full bill, but still I much prefer the WRT GT3 solution, a professional private entity with strong support from the manufacturer.

[thlbtcc]

Originally Posted by Bramzel

Officially they don't, they're all private teams with factory support. Manthey, AF Corse, M-Sport. The support goes as far as paying the full bill, but still I much prefer the WRT GT3 solution, a professional private entity with strong support from the manufacturer.

Good point. With that in mind, I'd love to know how much manufacturer support Craft Bamboo got last season in TCR. Jaime Puig was at least at every race, right?

[Juntos]

Originally Posted by Mark0994

I agree but last season only WRT and Leopard payed for Comini and Vernay and they still didn't received 5-6 monthly pays.

They will comeback. Do not worry. WRT and VW never got divorced so technically they’re still married.

[GM10]

On 2 March there will be the BoP test in Adria, alongside the presentation of the 2017 Italian championship.

[thlbtcc]

Apologies if this has been discussed already, but Sportpromotion are selling their Honda's off, will they be back in TCR Int for 2017? http://www.touringcartimes.com/2017/...for-2017-stcc/

[Racing Harz]

Originally Posted by thlbtcc

Apologies if this has been discussed already, but Sportpromotion are selling their Honda's off, will they be back in TCR Int for 2017? http://www.touringcartimes.com/2017/...for-2017-stcc/

Sportpromotion will focus on STCC and WestCoast will be back with a new car.

[thlbtcc]

Originally Posted by Racing Harz

Sportpromotion will focus on STCC and WestCoast will be back with a new car.

Cool, thank you.

[Speed-King]

Bit of a scoop from the sportscarunleashed guys:

Mini North America is developing a TCR car for Conti Challenge, hopes for a first test in June/July. (Fast forward to 23:30 minutes)

[thlbtcc]

"This year we have added another touring car expert in Belicchi, because we have so many cars that it would be an impossible task for only one man to test them all"

I hope Lotti means that 2 drivers will drive each car and not what he says, when defining the BoP http://www.touringcartimes.com/2017/...test-at-adria/

[Mies7337]

Only 5 weeks to go to the opening of the season. What number of cars can we expect to be on the grid? And how many brands will be there?
The racing was good fun last year, so hopefully there will be a similar amount of cars this year.

[Mark0994]

http://tcr-series.com/index.php/news...-meet-in-italy

Different topics were discussed; it was agreed to freeze car homologations for three years – until the end of 2019 – and to limit the number of engines to one per season. However, one engine change will be allowed with a reduced penalty (a five-place drop on the grid), while further changes will be penalised with a drop to the back of the grid.
It was also agreed that cars running under temporary homologation will not be eligible to score points in any championship.

[GM10]

What does "freeze car homologations" mean?

[Juntos]

Originally Posted by GM10

What does "freeze car homologations" mean?

Don’t worry, my love. Nobody will get hurt. Not badly. Only Subaru, Ford and Alfa Romeo were screwed!

[Racing Harz]

Grégoire Demoustier likely 2017 in the TCR Int.
https://www.motorsport.com/world-rx/...x-seat-878522/

[LavidaLoca]

Originally Posted by Juntos

They will comeback. Do not worry. WRT and VW never got divorced so technically they’re still married.

Apparently WRT Leopard Golf have been sold to China

[thlbtcc]

Originally Posted by Juntos

Don’t worry, my love. Nobody will get hurt. Not badly. Only Subaru, Ford and Alfa Romeo were screwed!

This is what I thought. The VW, Seat and Honda seem closely competitive, one could assume the Audi will be too and the Opel has shown flashes of speed but not at international level. But the Subaru, Alfa and Ford have not been 'on the pace' and the KIA is an unknown. Seems like an odd decision for me. Perhaps they will waiver the freeze for the slower cars?

[Fulvio]

Here are some shots I just made in Adria, during the Balance of Performance test

[Bramzel]

Originally Posted by thlbtcc

This is what I thought. The VW, Seat and Honda seem closely competitive, one could assume the Audi will be too and the Opel has shown flashes of speed but not at international level. But the Subaru, Alfa and Ford have not been 'on the pace' and the KIA is an unknown. Seems like an odd decision for me. Perhaps they will waiver the freeze for the slower cars?

I don't think that's necessary? The freeze is ideal to optimize the BoP, as the cars will remain the same.

The freeze is regarding the homologation of the cars, preventing the manufacturers to make changes. The organisers can still make changes though.

[Mark0994]

http://www.touringcartimes.com/2017/...adria-raceway/

– Alfa Romeo Giuiletta TCR – Mario Ferraris
– Audi RS 3 LMS DSG & SEQ – Rahel Frey
– Honda Civic TCR – Roberto Colciago
– Kia Cee’d GT TCR – Mike Halder & Janis Baumanis
– Opel Astra TCR – Pierre-Yves Corthals
– Peugeot 308 Racing Cup – Aurélien Comte
– SEAT León DSG – Miguel Molina
– SEAT León SEQ – Jordi Gené
– Subaru WRX STi TCR – Luigi Ferrara
– Volkswagen Golf GTI SEQ & DSG – Dieter Depping

Also Ford Focus is stuck at customs in Amsterdam but it will be at Adria tomorrow

[Pettersson]

That Ford Focus must be under a curse in some way, nothing has ever gone according to plan with that car. Too bad, I've always thought it was a great car for TCR (and I admit having a soft spot for Fords in motorsport).

[Juntos]

Very convenient to get the car stuck in customs on the BOP days.
They say it’s easy to forget your troubles when the weather’s warm. But all it takes is one fall breeze to blow reality right back in your face. Very embarrassing for Ford.