The third season in the history of TCR European Endurance started in emphatic fashion in Vallelunga, as two action-packed stages stole the show on the Roman racetrack. Notably, the fight for the DSG honors was exciting until the very end, with plenty of overtakes and plot twists throughout the weekend. Ultimately, it was Brothers In Arms who rose to the top, claiming a sensational one-two finish on their home turf.
The Italian outfit had made their TCR European Endurance debut on this exact circuit two years ago, when they claimed third place in the DSG class. As they came back for the 2026 season opener in the same category, they exceeded every expectation by doing something unprecedented, since no team in the history of the championship had ever been able to finish on the top two steps of the DSG podium. Tuder Motorsport had come close last year, when they took first and third in the season finale at Misano.
Brothers In Arms went one better in Vallelunga thanks to their perseverance and amazing strategy calls. The two pairs of Argenti/Serratore and Caso/Leone had placed outside of the top three in both qualifying sessions, but their rise to the top started right from Stage-1, where the former optimized their strategy and displayed great pace to climb all the way up to second position by the end of the opening stage, while the latter duo finished in fourth. On Sunday, Argenti enjoyed a terrific start and shot from fourth to first by the end of the opening lap; though they dropped to third by the end of Stage-2, their consistency made them the first DSG race winners of the season after summing the times of both stages. An excellent performance from Caso/Leone enabled them to take second in both Stage-2 and the final race results, thus giving Brothers In Arms a fantastic one-two finish in the opening round of the season.
TCR European Endurance is set to resume its 2026 season in Orechova Poton, as the series promoted by Riza International will share the track once more with GTC Endurance Challenge during round two of the season at the Slovakiaring, from June 5 to June 7.
