Balance of Performance
The minimum weight was reduced by 20kg

The TCR International Series technical department has issued the Balance of Performance for the 2018 season.
The minimum weight of all cars has been reduced by 20 kilograms compared to previous years; the current weights with the driver on board are: 1265 kg for the models fitted with sequential gearbox and 1230 kg for the DSG cars.
The BoP is now based on engine performance, BoP ballast and ride height. The latter is 80mm for all cars, while the following models are allowed to run on 102.5% of engine performance: Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR, Peugeot 308 TCR and the DSG versions of Cupra, Audi RS3 LMS, SEAT León and Volkswagen Golf GTI.

The list of the BoP ballasts:
   -30kg: LADA Vesta TCR, Peugeot 308 Racing Cup, Renault Mégane TCR
   -20kg: AR Giulietta, Honda Civic FK2 and FK7 cars, KIA c’eed, Peugeot 308 TCR
   -10kg: Cupra TCR, SEAT León TCR SEQ, Opel Astra TCR
   0kg: Hyundai i30 N TCR, Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR SEQ, all DSG cars
   +10kg: Audi RS3 LMS SEQ

On top of this, following meetings with the manufacturers’ technical representatives, it was decided to limit the power to 340bhp (-2.9%) and the torque to 410nM (-2.4%). The use of 98RON petrol is also recommended.
This BoP is for immediate application, starting from this weekend’s opening events of the WTCR at Marrakech where all cars will run with an additional 60kg of Compensation Weight.

The running weights in WTCR are as follows:
   1335kg: Audi RS3 LMS SEQ
   1325kg: Hyundai i30 N, Volkswagen Golf GTI SEQ
   1315kg: Cupra
   1305kg: AR Giulietta, Honda Civic FK7, Peugeot 308.

TCR Asia & TCR Thailand @ Sepang
Liqui Moly Team Engstler's drivers share victories

Tipped as the team to beat, the Liqui Moly Team Engstler did not disappoint and dominated the opening event of the TCR Asia series at Sepang.
The Volkswagen Golf GTI cars run by the German outfit won both races. However, if Luca Engstler's victory in Race 1 was somehow expected - especially after he set pole position - the one claimed by his new teammate Mitchell Cheah in Race 2 created a surprise. The 20-year-old Malaysian, selected through the Sepang International Circuit’s talent development programme, finished second in Race 1 and then benefited from the commotion created by the crash that eliminated Diego Moran (Team Engstler's third driver) to pull away in Race 2 and for taking the lead in the standings, two points clear of Engstler.
Lo Sze Ho was the strongest competitor for the two youngsters; at the wheel of a Maximum Racing Honda Civic FK2 he finished third in Race 1 and claimed a brilliant second place in Race 2, when he managed to keep the charging Engstler at bay until the chequered flag.
Abdul Khaatir (R Engineering Honda Civic FK2) scored a double victory in the Asia Cup.

The reigning Thai champion is beaten twice
Defense of the TCR Thailand title from the reigning champion Chariya Nuya did not start as he was hoping.
In the first race Nuya (Billionaire Boy Racing Honda Civic FK2) was beaten by the newcomer Pattarapol Vongprai (Vattana Motorsport Honda Civic FK2) who overtook him at the end of a race-long battle.
In the second race, while Nuya was fighting for the second place overall with Lo Sze Ho and Engstler, he was given a drive-through for jump-start. Jakraphan Davee (Alphafactory Racing SEAT León) inherited victory, while Nuya recovered to second ahead of Vongprai.
With these results, Vongprai is the first point leader (40) ahead of Davee (37) and Nuya (36).

The TCR Asia and TCR Thailand second race meeting will take place at Buriram’s Chang International Circuit on 2/3 June.

TCR UK @ Silverstone
Dan Lloyd dominates opening TCR UK races

Daniel Lloyd, driving a WestCoast Racing Volkswagen Golf GTI, took maximum points away from the opening race weekend of TCR UK after setting the fastest time in Qualifying and then winning both races.
UK fans had the perfect introduction to TCR when a dramatic Qualifying session was only settled in the dying seconds. Lloyd was fastest by two-tenths of a second from Aiden Moffat in the Alfa Romeo Giulietta, with the Honda Civic of Howard Fuller third and Lewis Kent fourth in a Hyundai i30 N TCR.
Lloyd duly took a lights-to-flag victory in Race 1, but there were a number of battles to entertain the Silverstone crowd. Moffat finished second ahead of Oliver Taylor in the Pyro Motorsport Honda while Darelle Wilson’s Vauxhall Astra ended up in the gravel and the Alfa Romeo of Derek Palmer Jr retired with engine problems.
Race 2 then saw a stunning first-lap performance from Lloyd that saw the VW leap from ninth on the grid to third by the end of lap 1. When the Englishman took the lead, win number two was never in doubt. There were more dramas for Moffat as the Alfa Romeo ran out of fuel in the race’s dying minutes, allowing Swedish TCR debutant Andreas Bäckman to finish in second place. Taylor was third once again while the Cupra of Stewart Lines was the winner of the DSG Trophy category in both races.
Lloyd might have left Silverstone in jubilant mood, but the biggest winner of the weekend was TCR UK itself. The number of spectators at the circuit exceeded expectations, while nearly 140,000 fans watched the day’s live streams on Facebook and YouTube.

The latest national TCR series has arrived! And the action will resume at Knockhill on May 12/13 for rounds 3 and 4.

Super Taikyu @ Suzuka
Maiden victory for the new Honda Civic FK7 TCR

The 2018 Super Taikyu kicked off at Suzuka with a 5-hour race in which the TCR class was won by Tadao Uematsu, Shinji Nakano, Hiroki Otsu and Takashi Kobayashi in a Honda Civic FK7 TCR. The #97 Civic, entered by Modulo Racing with DOME, scored the first ever victory for Honda with the new TCR model.
Seven TCR cars took part in the event that saw the Audi RS3 LMS run by BRP and driven by ‘Hirobon’, ‘Yossi’, Takuro Shinohara and Koichi Okumura setting the best qualifying time in the TCR class. However, they retired on the first lap with a broken suspension.
Another Audi, the Team DreamDrive car of Naoto Takeda, Takuya Shirasaka, Shozo Tagahara and Yoshiyuki Okumura led until mid race before losing one lap in the pits to solve a tyre issue.
The lead was then inherited by Philippe Devesa and Shogo Mitsuyama in the Adenau Volkswagen Golf GTI; they set the pace until the four hour mark, but eventually the #97 Civic took command and proceeded to claim the class win with a one-lap margin. The DreamDrive Audi finished in third position, a further 21 seconds adrift.
The Modulo Racing Civic had a consistent pace and benefited from a thorough strategy of pit stops.
The series will resume at Sugo on April 29 for round 2.

TCR Europe
A challenge reserved for the cars with DSG gearbox

The promoter of the 2018 TCR Europe Series has announced that a dedicated challenge will be reserved for the drivers who compete using cars fitted with a DSG gearbox.
A separate class for the DSG cars was introduced in last year’s TCR Europe Trophy at Adria and was won by Giovanni Altoè in a Volkswagen Golf GTI.
The TCR Europe DSG Challenge will award points to the ten best drivers classified in each race, following the same scale adopted by the TCR Europe Series: 25 points to the winner, 18 to the second, 15 to the third and then 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1.
After each race, the best driver classified in the TCR Europe DSG Challenge will be invited onto the podium alongside the three overall finishers and will be awarded a trophy.
The final prize for the TCR Europe DSG Challenge will be announced in due course.

The TCR events of the week

6 / 8 April - WTCR FIA World Touring Car Cup, Rounds 1, 2 & 3 @ Marrakech, Morocco
7 April - VLN Langstreckenmeisterschaft, Round 1 @ Nürburgring Nordschleife, Germany
7 April - 3H Endurance Chamipons Cup, Round 1 @ Mugello, Italy