Father and son racing pair Steve and Sam Laidlaw will join the TCR Europe series grid for the upcoming season finale at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with the UK-based Area Motorsport team running them in a pair of CUPRA Leon VZ TCRs.

The two drivers made a competitive motor racing debut in 2024, joining the TCR UK championship, and were the first to run the new Leon VZ in the country, acquiring a pair of cars at the season finale at Silverstone.

The Laidlaws then moved up a level in performance this year, with Sam and Steve scoring their first victories at Croft and Silverstone respectively, and with Sam heading to the TCR UK championship finale in November in outside contention for the drivers’ championship.

Area Motorsport will also be the first British  team on the TCR Europe series grid since 2020, and will add two CUPRAs to the field in addition to the championship-contending pair of Eric Gené and Jenson Brickley of Monlau Motorsport.

"The purpose of Barcelona is for us to understand the progression that we've made this year, against what we know is the very highest of touring car standards," said Steve Laidlaw.

"You've got the best drivers in the world in TCR Europe, and that is irrefutable, no matter what the championship denomination is. So I think for us to go there and measure ourselves against those guys, who are supreme in skill, and learn from them to accelerate our growth further has always been the plan."