With the first two races of its maiden season already completed, TCR European Endurance is entering the second half of the 2024 campaign. The continental endurance series promoted by Mauricio Slaviero has grown steadily since its opening round at the Balaton Park Circuit, with the hard work of the Brazilian promoter and his team being repaid as the numbers of the series keep growing. But who is the man behind the success of TCR European Endurance? “I’ve been working in motorsport for the last 40 years now,” said Slaviero, who was a driver before entering the managerial side of things. “I raced in Formula 3 and Indy Lights in the US, in Formula Chevrolet in Brazil. Then I started to work with drivers as a manager, and then finally I started to be involved with events and promoting. I was the CEO of the Brazilian stock car for eight years; the series grew a lot in the time that I was there and I was very happy.”
After that, however, he felt the need to switch things up. “I decided to change my life a little bit, and I came to live in Europe from 2017. I worked for a few years with Marcello Lotti in the WSC, especially on the ETCR project. And here we are now, starting the TCR European Endurance in 2024. I have a very big confidence in this format in the championship; I think this is something that was missing in the TCR family, and I’m sure that we are going to grow a lot from now.” The series has a clear format in mind: to bring an exciting new format that gives drivers the opportunity to race despite possible funding issues that may affect their career. “This is what we were willing to do,” Slaviero confirmed. “We’re a series where you can have a lot of track time but with a lower budget, so the drivers can have track time that is even a little bit more than a normal TCR sprint race while sharing the cost with someone else. Ultimately, you pay less and you drive more – this is the concept.”
TCR European Endurance has already found some exciting partners for its maiden season: amongst them are sportswear brand Racing Spirit, fuel provider Essex Motorsport and simracing company Cube Controls. “Our idea is to bring nice partners to our family; with Essex, Racing Spirit and Cube Controls, we are really starting to grow our family, so I think we are on a good path.” With the championship’s first round on Italian soil now in the books, the series will stay in the country for the third race of the season – a special night race in Misano. “The TCR scene in Italy is very, very big,” Slaviero said when asked about the country’s TCR tradition. “It has grown a lot in the past four or five years, so we have to be here. We have two races in Italy, and why not, maybe next year even grow a little bit more here, but always with the spirit of a European series.”
The next race of TCR European Endurance will be in Misano, as the Italian circuit will host round three of the season on June 22nd.
