Just a few days after the weekend in France at Circuit Paul Ricard, the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour resumes for rounds 8 and 9 in Portugal on the tricky street circuit of Vila Real.
Despite a penalty that complicated his life in France, Santiago Urrutia of Geely Cyan Racing is still on top of the standings, however a strong weekend with pole position, one win and one fourth place, enabled BRC Hyundai's Mikel Azcona to close to gap to just six points.
Behind them, their teammates Norbert Michelisz and Thed Björk are placed third and fourth, 32 and 35 points off the leader respectively.
The reigning champion Yann Ehrlacher has moved up to fifth, ahead of Aurélien Comte; the Frenchman at the wheel of his SP Compétition CUPRA Leon VZ is the first of the drivers who don't drive a Geely Preface or a Hyundai Elantra.
In the Teams' Championship, Geely Cyan Racing has already built a solid lead of 42 points over BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse.
The inaugural edition of the Circuito Automóvel de Vila Real took place in 1931 on a road course of 7.4 km; the event continued to be held in the following years - except for 1935 - attracting international participation while the whole racetrack was asphalted.
After the WWII years, racing resumed in 1949 on a shorter layout of 6.9 km, and the event's reputation grew up throughout the Fifties attracting international stars like Stirling Moss, Giovannni Bracco and Maria Teres De Filippis.
After an eight-year break, activity restarted in 1966 featuring Sportscar, Touring Car and Formula 3 races and culminating with the 1969 6-hour race and three rounds of the FIA 2000 Sportscar Championship between 1971 and 1973.
From 1974, the event featured only national races until 1991, when four spectators were killed in an incident.
The Circuito International was revived in 2007 on the current course of 4.6 km and hosted three times the FIA WTCC (from 2015 to 2017) and the FIA WTCR (in 2018, 2019 and 2022), before the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour's first visit last year.
Schedule
Saturday, 09:25 (10:25 CEST) - Free Practice 1 (30 min)
Saturday, 12:30 (13:30 CEST) - Free Practice 2 (30 min)
Saturday, 15:25 (16:25 CEST) - Qualifying Q1 (30 min)
Saturday, 16:07 (17:07 CEST) - Qualifying Q2 (15 min)
Sunday, 12:00 (13:00 CEST) - Race 1 (14 laps)
Sunday, 17:05 (18:05 CEST) - Race 2 (14 laps)
Thed Björk: 'Vila Real is like a little Macau'
With two race wins, in the 2018 WTCR and last year in the TCR World Tour, Thed Björk proved very competitive at Vila Real.
“I’m really looking forward to being back there, because the atmosphere is very good, as is always the case with street circuits.
Qualifying at Vila Real is very important, but finally the joker lap is back as well, and that will mix up the game a little bit. Sometimes it’s really good as you can gain an advantage from it, while other times you just have to follow the tactics of those around you. We’ll see how it works out.
It’s like a little Macau, as when you’re going so close to the rails through the city, you feel this extra rush of adrenaline.
When you get a lap right, it gives you a boost of confidence, though if you make a mistake, it’s very much the opposite feeling.”
Local fans will cheer for home boy Manuel Fernandes
All eyes of the Portuguese fans will be on Manuel Fernandes, the boy from Vila Real who returns racing on his home circuit after a positive weekend in France in the Vannin Motorsport Audi RS 3 LMS. After retiring in Race 1 with a broken rear wheel after he was hit by another car, Fernandes finished a respectable ninth in Race 2 and was awarded with the ETS Guest Star Trophy.
The winner of the second race at Le Castellet, Teddy Clairet, will not be part of the field. Following the plan of alternance, he will be replaced by his brother Jimmy who will be driving an Audi RS 3 LMS run by their family's Team Clairet Sport. The French outfit will also run a second Audi for Mathieu Casalonga who had made his World Tour debut in Valencia.
ALM Motorsport will add a second Honda Civic FL5 car alongside that of Jenson Brickley, for Mikael Karlsson. This is a comeback to the global series for the Swedish driver who had made three apperances in the World Tour's inaugural season, back in 2023.
The rules of the game (for this event)
The qualifying is split in two parts: Q1 for all drivers and Q2 for the fastest twelve in Q1; the durations of the two parts are extended to 30 and 15 minutes respectively, which is the standard for street circuits.
The races have a standing start and a duration of 14 laps.
Up to the first two laps of the safety car are added to the race distance.
The grids of the first two races are based on the qualifying results, with the top ten reversed on the grid for Race 2.
New from this year!
The driver who sets the fastest lap in Race 1 is promoted by one place on the grid for Race 2.
The Pole Position Trophy is awarded to the driver who sets the pole in qualifying.
The points scoring system
Qualifying - to the first six drivers: 15 / 10 / 8 / 6 / 4 / 2
Race - to the first 15 drivers: 30 / 25 / 22 / 20 / 18 / 16 / 14 / 12 / 10 / 8 / 6 / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1
New from this year!
The ETS Guest Star Trophy is awarded to best race-by-race entry in each race.
The weights - Balance of Performance and Compensation Weight
From this year a dedicated Balance of Performance is issued for the TCR World Tour.
BoP for Vila Real
Audi RS 3 LMS TCR - Minimum Racing Weight 1225kg; Ground Clearance 70mm
CUPRA Leon VZ TCR - Minimum Racing Weight 1225kg; Ground Clearance 70mm
Geely Preeface TCR - Minimum Racing Weight 1295kg; Ground Clearance 80mm
Honda Civic Type R FL5 TCR - Minimum Racing Weight 1235kg; Ground Clearance 80mm
Hyundai Elantra N EV TCR - Minimum Racing Weight 1295kg; Ground Clearance 80mm
Hyundai Elantra N TCR - Minimum Racing Weight 1255kg; Ground Clearance 80mm
The Compensation Weight is added to BoP on the basis of the results of the previous event.
CW for Vila Real
40kg - Mikel Azcona
30kg - Yann Ehrlacher
20kg - Norbert Michelisz
10kg - Santiago Urrutia
Two joker laps for adding spice to the races
From this year, two joker laps have been introduced for each race, with the aim of creating more opportunities to both gain and lose positions.
The joker laps will be performed around the final roundabout - Turns 22-24 - that is normally negotiated to the right side, while for the joker laps drivers have to go left.
It is not permitted to take a joker lap during the first two laps, while the first joker lap must be taken between laps 3 and 7; drivers can choose themselves when taking the second joker lap.
It is forbidden to take the joker lap during Safety Car or Full Course Yellow periods.
Any driver who fails to complete the required number of joker laps, or completes more than two, shall be penalised by a drive-through or a time penalty at the Stewards’ discretion.
