The opening qualifying of the 2026 TCR European Endurance season is now over, and after two thrilling sessions at the Autodromo di Vallelunga, the first points of the year have been awarded.
In Q1, reigning champion Eric Scalvini (Cupra Leon VZ) went fastest once again after topping both free practice sessions on Friday: at the wheel of his Gen-2 Cupra, the Italian set a 1:40.897 to secure first place. This enables him to start ahead of the rest of the TCR European Endurance field for Stage-1 due to this weekend’s special format. Behind him, Vedat Ali Dalokay (Audi RS3 LMS) secured second in the Gen-2 standings, while third was Alessandro Berton (Audi RS3 LMS) for BF Motorsport. Berk Kalpaklıoğlu (Audi RS3 Gen-1) kept the lead in the Gen-1 class for TEXACO Team AMS, as the Turkish team looks for a third title in a row in this category. In the DSG standings, Wimmer Werk Motorsport took the honours with Maximilian Kochendörfer (Cupra Leon DSG) as he finished two tenths ahead of Paolo Palanti (Audi RS3 DSG), while Davide Pezza (Audi RS3 DSG) took third.
The second session saw the home favourites on top once again, as Salvatore Tavano (Cupra Leon VZ) secured first place with a 1:40.739. The three-time TCR Italy champion showed once again his prowess in this piece of machinery, and he’s now set to start Stage-2 ahead of the rest of the TCR field following this weekend’s format. Alessandro Lisi put BF Motorsport’s Audi RS3 LMS in second position, narrowly getting the better of Sinan Çiftçi (Audi RS3 LMS), as the two of them gear up to start second and third respectively in the fight for the Gen-2 honours. In the DSG category, Aaron Klug (Cupra TCR DSG) showed his promising potential by securing the fastest class time, beating Cristian Carinci (Audi RS3 DSG) and Diego Cassarà (Audi RS3 DSG) in the process. Once again, TEXACO Team AMS took the spoils in the Gen-1 class, this time with Umut Göktaş (Audi RS3 Gen-1).
Today’s on-track action is not over yet, as Stage-1 is set to begin later that day at 16:00 local time, whereas the second stage takes place on Sunday 19 April, when the green flag will be waived at 14:15 local time. Both stages will be broadcast on TCR TV’s official YouTube channel, as well as on PitwallTV and Acelera GP’s YouTube channels.
