The TCR Europe Touring Car Series returns to France this weekend after three years away. The big question is whether Mike Halder can be caught after the ALM Motorsport driver scored strong points at Spa-Francorchamps, and how Mugello star Alex Ley will fare on his return after missing the races in Belgium.

Halder heads into the weekend with a slender five-point lead over PMA Motorsport's Nicolas Taylor, meaning both the reigning TCR Spain and TCR Italy champions sit at the top of the points table. While Halder finished just off the podium in both races in Belgium, he was still the highest-scoring driver over the weekend, which helped him secure the lead of the standings—but this also nets him the maximum compensation weight of 40kg.

With the Honda Civic notoriously poor at carrying ballast, and with the French circuit known to favour the aerodynamics of the Audi RS 3, it could be a strong weekend for the PMA Motorsport and AIKOA Racing drivers. Nicola Baldan has been steadily scoring points and threatening the podium, and sits sixth in the standings, while Santiago Concepción and Giacomo Prandelli of AIKOA Racing are looking for a strong result after a tough start to the year.

“I’m always happy to go to Paul Ricard,” said current points leader Mike Halder, who won at the track in 2020. “The facility around the track is very nice. From a track perspective, I also like it, it just depends if we’re competitive with the car. It has its ups and downs for all the cars, but it’s a track I’ve enjoyed racing at in the past.”

Ley's back after a bruising Belgium

Alex Ley was the star of the season opener at Mugello, taking pole, victory, and a second place in his first weekend, and looked unstoppable heading to Spa. However, Spa did manage to stop him after the famous Raidillon corner claimed his Hyundai Elantra N TCR right at the start of qualifying, meaning the 21-year-old British driver could take no further part in the weekend. The driver was unhurt, but the car was destroyed.

The BRC Racing Team has rolled out its spare car this weekend for Ley, who will be aiming to put Spa behind him and get his championship challenge back on track.

“It was just a small error but with a big consequence," said Ley. "It’s the biggest crash I’ve had by miles. I’ve been lucky in that I’ve never had a big crash in my career before that.

“In terms of the championship, I thought it was going to be a lot worse,” he added. “We’ve worked out we just need to regain seven points each weekend, but I still don’t want to think too much about the championship as it’s only been two rounds.

“What hurt the most at Spa was not being able to drive at all, even if we’d have been able to start at the back, but the good thing now for Paul Ricard is we’ve got a lot of new tyres, and no compensation weight.”

More names join the grid for the third weekend

The entry list for the weekend remains full; while the two wild cards entered for Spa-Francorchamps drop off, a new name and a returning name join the grid.

At the French Herrero Racing team, team manager Matéo Herrero will race in a second car for the squad, joining his signing Victor Weyrich, who will be looking for a shred of luck after a difficult first two races where he has shown great pace in the team's CUPRA Leon VZ TCR. It will only be Herrero's second-ever race weekend, though the French driver stunned when he raced at the Paul Ricard circuit in late April in TCR Spain, claiming victory in his very first race.

Meanwhile, at SP Compétition, Mikhail Simonov returns after missing Spa due to clashing commitments in his home country. The team has added a third car for this weekend, retaining the services of Sandro Pelatti alongside powerboat racer Tom Chiappe.

When and how to watch

The drivers get two practice sessions on Friday, before qualifying and Race 1 on Saturday, followed by the reversed-grid Race 2 on Sunday morning.

The races will be streamed live on the TCR TV YouTube channel and will also be broadcast on the digital sports channel DAZN. Furthermore, through The Racing Line app, the series can be found easily as a promoted partner; the app is available on the Apple and Google Play stores.

Timetable

Friday 5th June

10:10 - Free Practice 1
15:40 - Free Practice 2

Saturday 6th June

09:00 - Qualifying (20 + 10 minutes)
18:15 - Race 1 (25 minutes + 1 lap) - TCR TV

Sunday 7th June
10:15 - Race 2 (25 minutes + 1 lap) - TCR TV

All times are Central European Summer Time (CEST).

Entry list

7 - Mike Halder - ALM Motorsport - Honda Civic Type R FL5 TCR
8 - Nicola Baldan - PMA Motorsport - Audi RS 3 LMS
9 - Tom Chiappe - SP Compétition - CUPRA Leon VZ TCR
10 - Viktor Andersson - Monlau Motorsport - CUPRA Leon VZ TCR
12 - Gabriele Covini - BRC Racing Team - Hyundai Elantra N TCR
17 - Nicolas Taylor - PMA Motorsport - Audi RS 3 LMS
18 - Michael Markussen - RC2 Racing Team - Honda Civic Type R FL5 TCR
19 - Felipe Fernández - RC2 Racing Team - Honda Civic Type R FL5 TCR
22 - Giacomo Prandelli - AIKOA Racing - Audi RS 3 LMS
24 - Julien Briché - JSB Compétition - Hyundai Elantra N TCR
27 - Ruben Volt - ALM Motorsport - Honda Civic Type R FL5 TCR
29 - Matéo Herrero - Herrero Racing - CUPRA Leon VZ TCR
33 - Santiago Concepción - AIKOA Racing - Audi RS 3 LMS
37 - Victor Chan - RC2 Racing Team - Honda Civic Type R FL5 TCR
69 - Max Hart - ALM Motorsport - Honda Civic Type R FL5 TCR
72 - Sandro Pelatti - SP Compétition - CUPRA Leon VZ TCR
73 - Victor Fernández - RC2 Racing Team - Honda Civic Type R FL5 TCR
74 - Victor Weyrich - Herrero Racing - CUPRA Leon VZ TCR
76 - Alex Ley - BRC Racing Team - Hyundai Elantra N TCR
85 - Tiago Pernía - Squadra Martino - Honda Civic Type R FL5 TCR
87 - Junui Park - Solite Indigo Racing - Hyundai Elantra N TCR
97 - Junesung Park - Solite Indigo Racing - Hyundai Elantra N TCR
111 - Marco Butti - Monlau Motorsport - CUPRA Leon VZ TCR
112 - Mikhail Simonov - SP Compétition - CUPRA Leon VZ TCR
117 - Adam Shepherd - Monlau Motorsport - CUPRA Leon VZ TCR
145 - Raphael Fournier - JSB Compétition - Hyundai Elantra N TCR