The 2019 WTCR Supergrid is ready to rumble

The 2019 WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup season will kick-off this weekend at the Circuit Moulay El Hassan in the heart of Moroccan city Marrakech.

The second season of the world’s premier touring car competition under TCR rules will see thirty exciting races at ten venues over three continents (Europe, Africa, Asia), with twenty-six full-time racers from 14 nations forming the so-called Supergrid. They will compete in TCR-spec cars from seven manufacturers.

Twenty-six drivers from fourteen nations are representing seven car manufacturers

The grid is really superb because it features top level drivers, including seven world champions with fourteen FIA world championship titles. Besides world titles, all drivers from WTCR grid have won 29 other major championship titles in different racing disciplines. Twelve drivers already recorded victories in the first WTCR season.

Francois Ribeiro, Head of Eurosport Events, the WTCR promoter, said: “The variety of cars, the level of customer teams, the amount of champions, the mix of generations of drivers and the spread of forces across the field will make WTCR a unique flagship for the entire global TCR category. The #WTCR2019SUPERGRID is probably the best international touring car entry list we have seen in decades, certainly a level above 2018. I expect nothing else than 20 cars within one second in qualifying, fights at every level in all 30 races, plus one great champion crowned in Malaysia on 15 December.”

Gabriele Tarquini is the defending WTCR champion

Gabriele Tarquini will try to defend his WTCR title from 2018, driving again a Hyundai i30 N TCR for BRC Racing Team. He will proudly wear the number 1 on his car.

BRC will have two teams with two cars each. Norbert Michelicz will be Tarquini’s partner in the BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse while Augusto Farfus and Nicky Catsburg will race under the colours of BRC Hyundai N Lukoil Racing Team. It’s interesting that both Farfus and Catsburg are combining their WTCR duties with their jobs as BMW factory drivers in GT races.

Two former world champions Thed Bjork and Yvan Muller

Another team with four cars, divided into two sub-teams, will be Cyan Racing, as an official partner of the Chinese Geely Group Motorsport. The company developed the brand new car Lynk &ampCo 03 TCR that will be driven by three world champions – Yvan Muller, Thed Bjork and Andy Priaulx. The fourth team’s driver is Yann Ehrlacher.

The third team with four identical cars will be Sebastien Loeb Racing, which would run Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR machines. Rob Huff and Mehdi Bennani stayed with the team while the newcomers are Johan Kristoffersson and Benjamin Leuchter. They are new in the WTCR but both have great results in their CVs, especially Kristoffersson who is current STCC champion, two-time World RX champion and three-time Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavian champion.

Tom Coronel is one of the world’s most popular touring car drivers

The Belgian outfit Comtoyou Racing will have four cars too, but not from one manufacturer. They will run two Audi RS3 LMS for Frederic Vervisch and Niels Langeveld, and two Cupra TCRs for Tom Coronel and Aurelien Panis.

An addition to Audi’s line-up are Jean-Karl Vernay and Gordon Shedden, who will drive for WRT/Leopard Racing Team, while Swedish team PWR Racing will enter the championship with two Cupras for team co-owner Daniel Haglöf and last year’s TCR Europe champion Mikel Azcona.

Tiago Monteiro is returning to full-time racing after recovering from injuries

Honda is the sixth manufacturer with four cars on the grid, divided to separate entries of KC Motorgroup (KCMG) from Hong Kong and German team ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport. Attila Tassi and Tiago Monteiro will drive Honda Civic Type R TCRs for KCMG while the German team will run two Hondas for two Argentineans Nestor Girolami and Esteban Guerrieri.

The last but not least is the entry that represents Italy. Romeo Ferraris/Team Mulsanne will run two Alfa Romeo Giuliettas for the Italian driver Kevin Ceccon and Chinese driver Ma Qing Hua.

The 2019 WTCR season will have ten events with thirty races

2019 WTCR entry list

Photos: Frederic LeFloch, Alexandre Guillaumot, Xavi Bonilla/DPPI,