The BF Motorsport entry driven by Lisi/Berton (Audi RS3 LMS) has taken the race lead in the third round of the 2026 TCR European Endurance season at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo. The all-Italian line-up has coped brilliantly with an eventful opening stage of the weekend, thus taking their first stage win of the season and strengthening their championship lead in the process.
The fight in the Sequential class was settled on the very final lap. Initially, pole sitters Scalvini/Tavano (Cupra Leon VZ) went on to lead the race, but they were while their teammates Wiesmeir/Lemmerhofer (Cupra Leon Competicion) dropped from second to fourth. However, the reigning champions were later hit with a five-second penalty for failing to respect the racing director’s instructions at the pit exit area. Meanwhile, Lisi/Berton engaged in a brilliant for second with Çiftçi/Dalokay (Audi RS3 LMS) that latest the entire stage, despite a quick safety car intervention to recover the stranded Brothers In Arms’ Cupra TCR DSG of Caso/Locatelli. With 10 minutes to go, however, Çiftçi went off and came to a halt, unable to rejoin the circuit and thus enabling the BF Motorsport Audi to move into second. As the second safety car came out on track, Lisi/Berton closed the gap to Scalvini/Tavano, and as green flag racing did not resume, they used their rival’s penalty to emerge as the stage winners as well as the race leaders after Stage-1. Wisemeir/Lemmerhofer were also able to overtake their teammates because of their penalty to finish second, with Scalvini/Tavano ultimately finishing third. Çiftçi/Dalokay are fourth, though they have completed four less laps than the leaders. In the Gen-1 standings, Kalpaklıoğlu/Göktaş (Audi RS3 Gen-1) crossed the line in first.
The DSG class also saw plenty of fights, but through them all, Pezza/Verrocchio (Audi RS3 DSG) were the undisputed winners of the opening stage of the race. The Italian pair, which started from the DSG category’s pole position, led from start to finish in their class, thus taking a deserved race lead. However, their gap over second place is basically void, as Kochendorfer/Klug (Cupra Leon DSG) finished just 0.138s behind them, as the Wimmer Werk Motorsport duo used the final safety car at the end of Stage-1 to bridge the gap to their rivals. In their first outing in the DSG class, Söylemez/Okyay (Audi RS3 DSG) finished third, despite a five-second penalty for not respecting the race director’s instructions, and sit seven seconds behind the race lead. A troublesome afternoon for championship Palanti/Carinci (Audi RS3 DSG) sees them down in fourth and a lap behind the leaders, following a hefty 210-second penalty for a shorter pit stop. Both Cupras from Brothers In Arms failed to cross the finish line; Serratori/Argenti had to call it a day after contact with Palanti, the latter being handed a drive through because of it, while Caso/Locatelli hit the barriers after 16 minutes of racing.
Stage-2 will take place on Sunday 27 September at 9:10 local time, to declare the winners of round three of the GTC Endurance Challenge season. The second stage will be broadcast live on TCR TV’s official YouTube channel, with Daniele Spadi providing commentary.
