Hyundai Motor has raised the winner’s trophy at the opening event of the ‘2024 TCR World Tour’ held in Italy, marking its first podium of the year.
Hyundai announced on the 22nd that the ‘New Elantra N TCR’ won the championship during the ‘2024 TCR World Tour’ opening event held from April 19 (Friday) to 21 (Sunday, local time) at the Vallelunga Circuit in Campagnano, Italy.
Driver Norbert Michelisz, who participated with the New Elantra N TCR race car, crossed the finish line first in the inaugural final race held on the 20th (Saturday), bringing home the victory.
With the first final race win, Norbert Michelisz earned 30 points, and combined with the 15 points from qualifying and 16 points earned from finishing 6th in the second final race on the 21st (Sunday), he totaled 61 points, securing the first position in the 2024 season driver’s standings.
This season, newly signed driver Néstor Girolami achieved 10th place in the first final race and clinched 1st in the second final race, earning a total of 38 points throughout the event and moving up to 6th place in the 2024 season driver standings.
Driver Mikel Azcona finished 4th in both the first and second final races, accumulating 46 points, putting him in 2nd place in the 2024 season driver standings.
Hyundai plans to continue its partnership with the BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse team, which greatly contributed to winning the TCR World Tour driver title in 2023, including Norbert Michelisz, who recorded consistent results, along with recently signed driver Néstor Girolami.
The TCR World Tour is a top-tier global competition using TCR race cars, determining rankings based on results from regional TCR competitions held worldwide.
The TCR series includes approximately 40 events globally, covering various continents and countries, with up to 650 drivers participating in each TCR series competition. The global premier TCR World Tour will continue with races in Morocco, the United States, Brazil, Argentina, China, and Macau, beginning with the opener in Italy for the 2024 season.
Til Batenberg, executive director of Hyundai Motor’s N Brand & Motorsport division, stated, “The TCR World Tour is an opportunity to showcase the high-performance vehicle expertise we have built to date,” and added, “We will do our utmost to collaborate closely with our drivers for another season of strong performance following the 2023 season.”
Meanwhile, the TCR World Tour competition prohibits direct participation from manufacturers; instead, professional racing teams that purchase manufacturer race cars compete in a ‘customer racing’ format. The second TCR World Tour event is scheduled to take place from May 3 (Friday) to 5 (Sunday, local time) at the ‘International Automobile Moulay El Hassan Circuit’ in Morocco.
Lee Sang-jin daedusj@autodiary.kr