Hyundai Motor has achieved a double podium finish at the inaugural race of the global top-tier touring car competition, the ‘2023 TCR World Tour’, showcasing the strength of last year’s dual WTCR champions.

From April 28 (Friday) to 30 (Sunday, local time), Hyundai’s ‘Elantra N TCR’ (domestically known as Avante N TCR) secured both the first and second places in the first final race of the ‘2023 TCR World Tour’ held at the Algarve International Circuit in Portimao, Portugal.

The TCR World Tour, newly initiated this year following the conclusion of the ‘WTCR (World Touring Car Cup)’ last year, operates on a points system based on the results from nine selected TCR series races held globally, moving away from merely fielding teams for a single event.

The TCR series encompasses over 40 events worldwide, involving vehicles from 16 brands and 25 models, with more than 650 drivers.

The TCR World Tour starts with the TCR Europe Portugal race as its kickoff event, planning competitions across 7 countries on 4 continents, including Belgium, Italy, Hungary, Uruguay, Argentina, Australia, and Macau.

The top 15 drivers, who accumulate points across nine races, will qualify for the ‘TCR World Final’ later this year or early next year to determine the ultimate champion.

The TCR World Final will see participation from the top 15 of the TCR World Tour along with the top 45 drivers from global competitions using TCR regulations, based on their TCR world ranking points.

Hyundai continues its collaboration with the ‘BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse’ team, which contributed significantly to their overall victory in the driver and team categories in WTCR 2022, with drivers Mikel Azcona and Norbert Michelisz, and anticipates strong results in this year’s inaugural TCR World Tour.

Meeting these expectations, Norbert Michelisz, participating in the Elantra N TCR, clinched victory in the first final race held on the 29th (Saturday), crossing the finish line in a record time of 22:38.708.

With this victory, Norbert Michelisz earned 30 points and added 15 points from qualifying, and 12 points from securing 8th place in the second final race, totaling 57 points to mark a refreshing start to the season.

Competing in the same race car, Mikel Azcona also secured 2nd place in the first final race with a record time of 22:39.413, creating a double podium finish.

Mikel Azcona finished 4th in the second final race, accumulating a total of 55 points during the event to kick off the season.

Til Batenberg, Executive Director of Hyundai Motor’s N Brand and Motorsports Division, stated, “We are very pleased to achieve a double podium at the inaugural round of the TCR World Tour in 2023” and emphasized that they will continue to strive to promote their high-performance technologies.

Meanwhile, the TCR World Tour, similar to WTCR, prohibits direct manufacturer participation and is conducted as a ‘customer racing’ event where professional racing teams purchase the manufacturer’s racing cars.

Hyundai plans to support customer racing teams with TCR racing cars to achieve good results in the remaining races of 2023.

Lee Sang-jin daedusj@autodiary.kr