Hyundai Motorsport names first Customer Racing Junior Drivers
- Hyundai Motorsport has named the five drivers selected for the first year of the Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing Junior driver initiative
- The drivers chosen will race the Hyundai i30 N TCR at an international level in the TCR Europe and TCR Asia Series this season
- The drivers will be able to draw on the mentoring of Hyundai customer’s FIA WTCR pilots, as well as opportunities for additional training and media coaching to further their racing careers.
Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing has named the first drivers to join the newly launched Customer Racing Junior Driver program.
The five in the initial group will all race the Hyundai i30 N TCR at an international level this season, and each has already proven their skills in the category in order to attract the attention of the Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing department. Junior Drivers Andreas and Jessica Bäckman will compete in TCR Europe with the Target Competition team, racing against M1RA teammates Dániel Nagy and Luca Engstler, who have both also been awarded places in the initiative after strong 2018 seasons driving the i30 N TCR.
Engstler will also carry the Junior Driver logo in his TCR Asia campaign this year, which he started with a win at Sepang earlier this month. Daniel Miranda, a relatively new convert TCR racing completes the Junior Driver line-up as part of the Eurasia Motorsport team in the TCR Asia Series.
Though only moving into the championship for this year Philippine driver Miranda immediately showed his potential in the series when he took second place in only his second race in an i30 N TCR. Engstler, meanwhile, won the opening contest of the new season to continue a startling run that has seen him win five of the six events in TCR Malaysia and score three wins in TCR Germany, including the only perfect weekend – pole position, two wins and two fastest laps – of the championship’s 2018 season.
In TCR Asia he will race with the Liqui Moly Team Engstler team, but in TCR Europe he will be part of the M1RA line-up alongside former WTCC driver Dániel Nagy. 2019 will be the Hungarian’s second season in TCR Europe after a strong debut year in 2018 with the i30 N TCR. He ended the 2018 season fifth in the points, but he banked the most podium finishes of anyone in the season, including his first international victory at Assen in Holland.
Swedish siblings Andreas and Jessica Bäckman are new faces to Hyundai customer teams, and to a full season in TCR Europe. However, the 2019 season will continue their rapid climb up the racing ladder. After success in karting and rallycross they raced in both the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship and TCR UK in 2018. Andreas scored a first TCR win the UK to finish the championship third, one place ahead of his sister. Both ended the season with a one-off entry in TCR Europe in Barcelona.
As Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing Junior Drivers they and their teams will benefit from the support of the department at, and away from, the track through engineering support. They will also be able to draw on the expertise of the drivers racing with Hyundai customers in FIA WTCR – which will also race at the Hungaroring this weekend – and take advantage of extra training and media coaching to help them further their racing career.
The Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing Junior Driver program is open to those under the age of 24, racing with a Hyundai customer team. The scheme is aimed to help talented young racers progress their career towards a spot in FIA WTCR with Hyundai teams.
Hyundai Motorsport Team Director Andrea Adamo said: “For the first season of the Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing Junior Driver initiative we have selected an extremely talented group and I am excited to help support them. Each of them has the potential to be a race winner in the Hyundai i30 N TCR. We have already seen that performance in TCR Asia and this weekend in TCR Europe should be incredibly competitive for the drivers there. With the support we can offer them I am sure they can have an excellent 2019, and continue their excellent progress in their racing careers until we see them winning with Hyundai in FIA WTCR.”
Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing Junior Driver Mini-Profiles
Andreas Bäckman
Age: 23
Nationality: Swedish
2019 in i30 N TCR: TCR Europe with Target Competition
Previous TCR experience:
2018: TCR UK, STCC, TCR Europe
Jessica Bäckman
Age: 21
Nationality: Swedish
2019 in i30 N TCR: TCR Europe with Target Competition
Previous TCR experience:
2018: TCR UK, STCC, TCR Europe
Luca Engstler
Age: 19
Nationality: German
2019 in i30 N TCR: TCR Europe with M1RA, TCR Asia with Liqui Moly Team Engstler. Won TCR Malaysia with Liqui Moly Team Engstler.
Previous TCR experience:
2018: TCR Germany, TCR Asia, TCR Middle East
2017: TCR Germany, TCR Middle East, TCR International Series, TCR Europe Trophy
Daniel Miranda
Age: 22
Nationality: Filipino
2019 in i30 N TCR: TCR Asia with Eurasia Motorsport
Previous TCR Experience: None
Daniel Nagy
Age: 21
Nationality: Hungarian
2019 in i30 N TCR: TCR Europe with M1RA
Previous TCR Experience:
2018: TCR Europe: FIA WTCR (wildcard)
2017: TCR International Series
2015: TCR International Series
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