After a long summer break, TCR European Endurance is back on track this weekend, racing at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia. Despite the the three-month gap between rounds two and three, reigning champions Scalvini/Tavano (Cupra Leon VZ) are still the pair to beat. The Wimmer Werk Motorsport duo set an impressive 1:43.988, claiming the overall fastest time across the TCR entries.
However, the opening session of the weekend was not as smooth for the two Italians, as their Cupra came to a halt in the middle sector with roughly seven minutes to go, thus causing the sole red flag interruption across the 40 minutes of track time. Still, no one was able to match the reigning champions’ time; their teammates Wiesmeier/Lemmerhofer (Cupra Leon Competicion) were the closest to do so, as the two debutants clinched second position in their maiden official TCR European Endurance session. Third place belonged to the championship-leading pair of Lisi/Berton (Audi RS3 LMS), while Çiftçi/Dalokay (Audi RS3 LMS) were close behind in fourth.
Fifth place went to Kochendorfer/Klug (Cupra Leon DSG), as the Wimmer Werk Motorsport entry topped the DSG standings ahead of the Tuder Motorsport pair of Pezza/Verrocchio (Audi RS3 DSG). The TEXACO Team AMS entry of Kalpaklıoğlu/Göktaş (Audi RS3 Gen-1) went fastest in the Gen-1 standings and secured the seventh quickest time overall, finishing just ahead of DSG championship leaders Palanti/Carinci (Audi RS3 DSG). Caso/Locatelli (Cupra TCR DSG) finished in ninth overall and fourth in the DSG standings, just ahead of Söylemez/Okyay (Audi RS3 DSG) and Serratore/Argenti (Cupra TCR DSG).
Friday’s schedule for the upcoming weekend sees drivers hit the track at 16:35 local time for FP2, while qualifying will instead take place on Saturday 26 September, with the two sessions lasting 15 minutes each set to begin at 11:55 and 12:20 local time respectively. Later the same day, Stage-1 begins at 15:05 local time, while Stage-2 will take place on Sunday 27 September at 9:10 local time. Both stages will be broadcast live on TCR TV’s official YouTube channel with Daniele Spadi providing commentary.
