For the third time the TCR International Series returns to the Salzburgring, one of the championship’s favourite locations thanks to its superb alpine setting, the local people’s warm welcome and the characteristics of the racetrack itself; fast, demanding and perfectly suited to Touring Car competition.
The two previous visits of the series provided four different winners in very different weather conditions.
Kevin Gleason (Honda Civic) and Michel Nykjær (SEAT León) won the 2015 races in the sunshine, while Mikhail Grachev (Honda Civic) won last year’s first race on a dry track, but under the threat of rain, benefiting from a technical issue that stopped Pepe Oriola’s SEAT with only four laps to go.
The rain arrived in time for the second race, flooding the track; Jean-Karl Vernay (Volkswagen Golf) made fewer mistakes than anybody else and surfaced as the winner. Set up is crucial at the Salzburgring, to avoid issues with wear of the front-left tyre. It is also important to survive the risks of a pile-up at the first chicane and avoid high-speed contacts that may result in massive damage to the cars.
Track activity will be concentrated between Saturday and Sunday, with two Practice sessions and the Qualifying on day 1, and the two races on Sunday.
TCR in Salzburgring – the event at a glance
Lap distance: 4.24 km Race distance: 15 laps Start: standing Grids: determined by Qualifying results (Q1+Q2) with top-10 reversed for Race 2
Timetable: Saturday, 10:00/10:30 - Free Practice 1 Saturday, 12:00/12:30 - Free Practice 2 Saturday, 15:00/15:35 - Qualifying (Q1 + Q2) Sunday, 13:05 - Race 1 Sunday, 14:35 - Race 2
all times: GMT +2
Colciago, Vervisch and Comini will carry ballast
Roberto Colciago, Frédéric Vervisch and Stefano Comini will carry Success Ballast during the next event of the TCR International Series at the Salzburgring. Colciago was the highest scorer in the previous events at Monza with 47 points, which means that his Honda Civic will be laden by the maximum 30-kilo ballast, while Comtoyou Racing’s teammates Vervisch and Comini will carry 20 and 10 extra kilos on board their Audi RS3 LMS cars. As a result, Colciago’s Honda will weigh 1345kg (1285kg minimum weight + 30kg Success Ballast + 30kg Balance of Performance adjustment), while the running weight of Vervisch’s and Comini’s cars 1350kg (1285kg + 20kg SB + 45kg BoP) and 1340kg (1285kg + 10kg SB + 45kg BoP) respectively. Just as in Spa-Francorchamps, car performance is due to be especially affected at the Salzburgring because of the long uphill part and hard braking points.
A three-way fight to lead the standings
The previous event in Monza gave Roberto Colciago and Stefano Comini the opportunity to close the gap from Jean-Karl Vernay, who jumped to the top of the standings at the series’ third round, Race 1 in Bahrain. Colciago was able to cut the gap by twenty-five points and Comini by seven, which means that they are currently lying in second and third, 16 and 18 points behind Vernay respectively. Colciago’s teammate Attila Tassi ranks fourth, 37 points from the leader, with Pepe Oriola in fifth position, a further ten points adrift.
Something new in a strong twenty-three-car field
A strong field of twenty-three cars will compete at the Salzburgring, where the series welcomes some new teams and drivers.
The returns of Rob Huff and Duncan Ende Both Rob Huff and Duncan Ende were forced to skip the previous event in Monza. The Briton had already committed to race in the WTCC event at the Hungaroring; in Austria he will rejoin the TCR International Series for the rest of the season as Jean-Karl Vernay’s teammate at the wheel of a Leopard Racing Volkswagen Golf GTI car. After suffering with the performance of their SEAT León car, Ende and Icarus Motorsport decided to take a pause to replace the DSG gearbox with a sequential racing unit. Now they return to the championship with the confidence of running a more competitive car.
Demoustier joins Homola at DG Sport Compétition From the Salzburgring event, Grégoire Demoustier will join DG Sport Compétition as Mat’o Homola’s teammate. The 26-year old Frenchman has gained significant experience in different categories, including professional series like the FIA GT and Touring Car World Championships. “Even though I have the experience of two WTCC seasons, I will need to get used to the Opel Astra TCR. This is why I have not set myself a precise goal for Salzburgring. There I will focus on taking my bearings at the wheel of the car and becoming acquainted with the team. Watching the TCR races I saw that drivers fight hard for positions, but I’m not worried about this. I’m very excited to begin this new chapter in my racing career,” said Demoustier who drove a Volkswagen Golf TCR last year during the TCR Benelux finale at Mettet.
Thomas Jäger to drive for Kissling Motorsport Twenty-three-year old Austrian driver Thomas Jäger will make his first appearance in the TCR International Series for his home race meeting at the wheel of an Opel Astra TCR run by the Kissling Motorsport team. “It is going to be my first experience in a front-wheel drive racing car,” explained Jäger who has raced so far in karting, Formula and rear-wheel drive Touring cars. “We tested the Astra TCR three weeks ago and I felt immediately at ease driving it. Now I will be focusing in doing my best in what is also my first race ever at the Salzburgring and in one of the most competitive Touring Car series in the world.”
Seasonal debut for the Top Run Subaru WRX TCR The Top Run-built Subaru WRX STI TCR will make its season debut in the International Series after the Italian engineering company has worked to update the Japanese car with the aim of improving reliability. “We have recently completed a very satisfactory test at Adria, where the car has run without the lesser technical issue. And this make us confident that we will be able to show its actual potential in Austria,” said team manager Renato Russo. Top Run’s regular driver Luigi Ferrara will be at the wheel of the Subaru.
Milovan Vesnić is ready for his maiden appearance After years of racing in different European racing series, multiple Serbian and FIA Central European Zone Touring Car champion Milovan Mikica Vesnić is now ready for his maiden appearance in the TCR International Trophy. The 40-year old Vesnić joins with the aim of taking part in the TCR European Trophy event at the end of the season, just like Stian Paulsen and Jens Reno Møller. "TCR is the next step for me and my team. We are a small team, but we have a lot of experience. My family has been involved in motor sports for more than forty years and we are not afraid to fight with the world’s top teams and drivers. Our main goal in 2017 is to present ourselves and our country at our best," said Vesnić who will drive an Audi RS 3 LMS run by the all-Serbian racing team ASK Vesnić.
Pit Lane Competizioni enters an Audi for Enrico Bettera One of the very first Italian teams to commit to TCR, Pit Lane Competizioni will make its first appearance in the International Series fielding an Audi RS3 LMS for Enrico Bettera. The team is already taking part successfully in the TCR Italy series with Bettera’s Audi and a SEAT León for Nicola Baldan who won the first race in Misano last Saturday. Pit Lane Competizioni is also running a parallel programme in the 24H Series. "This is a new and stimulating challenge. We started in TCR last year with one win and three podiums, this season we have finished second in the Silverstone 24 hours, now we are ready for the next step. I haven’t fixed any goal, because the level of the International Series is extremely high, but we can learn a lot by racing against the best teams and drivers," commented Bettera who was a three-time Touring Car champion in the Italian Cup (2013 to 2015) before switching to TCR Italy in 2016 in which he scored one race win on his way to being classified sixth in the final standings.
Rock band Aber Hallo in live concert at the Salzburgring
German Alternative-Rock band Aber Hallo will perform live on Sunday at the Salzburgring. The band formed by Elias (lead vocals), Chris (guitar and vocals), Konse (guitar), Felix (bass guitar and vocals) and Michi (drums) debuted in 2015. They are popular in Germany and Austria and have won the 2016 School-Jam award and were finalists in the Bayern Newcomer Contest. At the Salzburgring they will make two appearances on the starting grid. Once at 12:20, before the start of the TCR International Series Race 1 when they will play two or three songs, and then again at 16:00 after the podium ceremony for a one-hour live show.
Full live coverage from Salzburgring
Fans will be able to follow live on the Internet the whole action of the TCR International Series at Salzburgring on www.tcr-series.com and www.tcr-series.tv according to the following timetable.
Saturday, 09:55 – Free Practice 1, timing and streaming Saturday, 11:55 – Free Practice 2, timing and streaming Saturday, 14:55 – Qualifying, timing and streaming Sunday, 12:55 – Race 1, timing and streaming Sunday, 14:28 – Race 2, timing and streaming
(all times local, GMT +2)
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