The TCR Europe series has unveiled its entry for the 2024 season opener at  Autodromo Vallelunga Piero Taruffi, with a brace of new CUPRA Leon VZs and Honda Civic Type R FL5s dominating the entry which also features returning champion Franco Girolami, as well as competitive programmes with Audi and Lynk & Co.

Girolami, who won the 2022 title, returns with the chance of winning another, now piloting one of five of CUPRA’s latest generation TCR car, the Leon VZ, at the Italian circuit.

The Argentinian joins his former team-mate Viktor Davidovski in a three-car programme put together by Monlau Motorsport, with the team’s third driver 17-year-old Eric Gené, son of touring car star and CUPRA development driver Jordi Gené. Gené is already a race winner in TCR, having won a round of the TCR Spain pre-season series in February.

Two more of the new Leon VZs will be run by SP Compétition, with the French team fielding a car for the 2017 TCR Europe Trophy champion Aurélien Comte, who will be joined by the returning Belgian driver Giovanni Scamardi.

Although the CUPRAs are the newest cars in global TCR competition, the year old new Civic Type R FL5 is the most represented car in the field, with six cars being run across two teams.

Estonian race team ALM Motorsport will field Civics for reigning TCR South America champion Ignacio Montenegro, Hungarian rising star Levente Losonczy, as well as Monza and Barcelona race winner Ruben Volt.

New team GOAT Racing will also run three Civics for drivers Rubén Fernández, Felipe Fernández, and Serbia’s Dušan Borković.

Baldan Group by Comtoyou will field the sole new Audi RS 3 LMS on the grid for three-time TCR Italy champion Nicola Baldan, who returns for a full campaign this year, while MA:GP will run a Lynk & Co 03 TCR for the returning Viktor Andersson, who got his 2024 season underway with a race victory at Brands Hatch last week in preparation for the season ahead.

Entry list

7 - Aurélien Comte (FRA) - SP Compétition - CUPRA Leon VZ TCR
8 - Nicola Baldan (ITA) - Baldan Group by Comtoyou - Audi RS 3 LMS TCR
10 - Viktor Andersson (SWE) - MA:GP - Lynk & Co 03 TCR
11 - Rubén Fernández (ESP) - GOAT Racing - Honda Civic Type R FL5 TCR
19 - Felipe Fernández (ESP) - GOAT Racing - Honda Civic Type R FL5 TCR
21 - Eric Gené (ESP) - Monlau Motorsport  - CUPRA Leon VZ TCR
23 - Ignacio Montenegro (ARG) - ALM Motorsport - Honda Civic Type R FL5 TCR
27 - Ruben Volt (EST) - ALM Motorsport - Honda Civic Type R FL5 TCR
34 - Giovanni Scamardi (BEL) - SP Compétition - CUPRA Leon VZ TCR
62 - Dušan Borković (SRB) - GOAT Racing - Honda Civic Type R FL5 TCR
64 - Levente Losonczy (HUN) - ALM Motorsport - Honda Civic Type R FL5 TCR
72 - Franco Girolami (ARG) - Monlau Motorsport - CUPRA Leon VZ TCR
110 - Viktor Davidovski (MKD) - Monlau Motorsport - CUPRA Leon VZ TCR

Timetable

Friday 19^th April

10:30 – Free Practice 1

15:00 – Free Practice 2

18:45 – Qualifying

Saturday 20^th April

18:05 – Race 1 (15 laps)

Sunday 21^st April

15:15 – Race 2 (15 laps)