A new international touring car series could be set to feature on the motorsport calendar in 2015 – if ambitious new plans to create a step in the touring car ladder come to fruition.
The TC3 International Series aims to restore the ‘touring car pyramid’ concept, allowing cars to compete at the national, regional and international level, as happened in the Super Touring days of the 1990s.
The series claims it will run some events at Formula One events as support races, featuring more than ten events across four different continents.
The driving force behind the series is believed to be former World Touring Car Championship boss Marcello Lotti, who was replaced as the promoter of the series by François Ribeiro at the start of the year.
The series promises impressive cars, whilst costs will be kept under control. As in most major touring car series performance ballast will be used for the most competitive cars in the field.
In addition it is anticipated that an Asian series will be created at the same time.
The company’s registered office is in central London and has set-up a website with a countdown timer at www.tc3internationalseries.com.
The full statement from the series is below:
“TC3™ INTERNATIONAL SERIES ANNOUNCED FOR 2015
Introducing a new global Touring Car racing championship – the TC3™ International Series – which has been announced for 2015. The exciting new series aims to restore the ‘Touring Car Pyramid’ concept of cars that can compete at national, regional and international level and will appear in several Formula One™ events.
Not only will the cars look impressive but they will be capable of delivering a strong performance, while development and running costs will be kept under control to make the series affordable for private teams.
The technical principles follow the GT3 philosophy. Performance of the different cars will be regulated through a Performance balance system.
Major car makers have in their range models that may be eligible for competing in this series that is deliberately aimed at creating a strong customer market for the cars while developing a worldwide racing product at the pinnacle of Touring Car racing.
In all, there will be in excess of ten race meetings over four continents. Some of these will be run within F1© events, ensuring a massive global audience and strong media coverage will be exposed to the series in its very first season.
A sister TC3™ Asia Series will be organised as well, that will be sharing some of the events with the International Series.
Stay tuned to hear further details about the TC3™ International Series and its 2015 calendar that will be announced shortly.”