The curtain closes on the opening round of the 2026 TCR European Endurance campaign. The third season of the championship promoted by Riza International got off to a flying start, with plenty of overtakes across the two stages, which were shared out on track with the brand new GTC Endurance Challenge.
In Stage-2, the fight for first in the Gen-2 standings came down to the very final lap. In a battle between two Audi RS3 DSGs, Alessandro Lisi (Audi RS3) was able to overtake Sinan Çiftçi at the start, putting BF Motorsport out in front. The two were closely matched throughout the opening stint, as the Italian led the Turk by a couple of seconds near the halfway point. Just like in Stage-1, the safety car was forced to come out on track right as the pit window opened, and both drivers came in to leave the fight to Alessandro Berton and Vedat Ali Dalokay respectively. Despite the lead earned after the opening Stage, Dalokay was willing to go the extra mile to take the stage win away from Berton. He ultimately did so on the last lap of the race, securing first in Stage-2 ahead of Lisi/Berton; doing so, Çiftçi/Dalokay also secured the race win in the Gen-2 standings ahead of the Italian pair. After yesterday’s issues, Scalvini/Tavano (Cupra Leon VZ) couldn’t partake in Stage-2. In the Gen-1 standings, it was another top performance from Berk Kalpaklıoğlu and Umut Göktaş, as they secured the race win as well as both stage victories for a flawless start to their campaign.
The race for the DSG win also had an unexpected turn of events. Starting from first, Aaron Klug was overtaken by fellow Cupra DSG driver Andrea Argenti, who had a terrific start from fourth on the gird. The Brothers in Arms crew enjoyed its first kilometers at the front of the DSG field, though Klug was quick to retake first after the opening ten minutes. As the safety car came out, however, disaster hit the Wimmer Werk Motorsport Cupra, as it began smoking from the rear end after the mandatory pit stop and was forced to retire. With Argenti pitting before the safety car to give way to Pasquale Serratore, it was Tuder Motorsport who took advantage of the situation after retiring from Stage-1. Following a great first half of the stage by Diego Cassarà, his teammate Davide Pezza found himself in first place after the pit stop window. He did not look back after the restart, as Pezza/Cassarà secured the Stage-2 win ahead of the two Brothers In Arms Cupra Leon DSGs of Caso/Leone and Argenti/Serratore. Thanks to their consistency, Argenti/Serratore were the DSG winners summing the times of both stages, bringing home a historic 1-2 finish for Brothers In Arms as Caso/Leone finished second; Casals Motorsport took third with Palanti/Carinci (Audi RS3 DSG).
The 2026 TCR European Endurance season will resume in June, when the championship will visit the Slovakiaring: together with the GTC Endurance Challenge, the series promoted by Riza International will race in Slovakia from June 5 to June 7 for round two of the season.
