Duncan Ende and his Icarus Motorsports team plan to be in TCR International for ‘as long as it’s around’, as the American prepares for his début at the Rustavi International Circuit in Georgia.
Ende enters TCR having previously competed in the Pirelli World Challenge in North America, where he raced for the past two seasons in the GT Class.
The American enjoys a close relationship with FRD Motorsports, having purchased his two cars from the team, who previously ran them under the Roadstar Racing banner in TCR Asia.
He explained how the deal to compete in TCR International came about, having previously attempted to compete in the Asian Le Mans Series in late 2016 and early 2017 with FRD before the deal fell through.
“Brian [Ma, Team Manager] and I worked together a few years ago in the Pirelli World Challenge in the Ferrari programme, and last year we put together a deal for me to run in the Asian Le Mans Series with FRD,” explained Ende to TouringCars.Net.
“Unfortunately, due to the driver ranking situation and this and that, we had our deal fall apart a couple of weeks before the season started and we had to make a call as to whether or not to miss a quarter of the season, at least, and try and go forward or not.
“We decided to cancel the programme and work out a deal with Kenneth [Ma, FRD Team Principal] to take over their two SEAT Cup Cars that they had run in TCR Asia.
“We took possession of them after that and looked around at the landscape. It would have been one thing to go and run in TCR Italy or TCR Germany, but we need to be in the big show.”
Ende is planning to grow his TCR operation into a multi-car assault in the long-term, with talks ongoing with several drivers for the second SEAT, which will compete at the third event in Belgium.
Ende has also suggested the team, who are based just outside Bologna in Italy, could also look to other national and regional TCR Series in order to expands their operation.
“Whilst we’re a one-car team this weekend, the goal is to be a full two-car effort for the rest of the year following Bahrain and grow the programme from there.
“We’re in talks with a few different drivers, some Americans and some Europeans. I know that Marcello [Lotti] would love to see the American team have two American drivers – we’d love to make it happen as well, but there’s a lot of moving pieces which we still need to fit together.
“I think TCR International has got a fantastic future and we want to be here as long as it’s around. We’ll be running two cars and maybe even three down the line in a few years to come.
“We want to expand our programme and we want to focus on TCR as well, so depending on what interest we can drum up from customers and sponsors, we’ll happily look to TCR Italy or forthcoming European series. Beyond that we’ll see where there’s interest and opportunity, but TCR International is definitely the focus for now.”
Looking at the weekend ahead, Ende admits that he is still learning about the car, having not carried out any testing or even ever previously raced a front-wheel drive car.
The SEAT is the only one on the grid currently running with the DSG gearbox, which adds an extra challenge for the 32-year-old.
“Due to some delays in the pre-season with suppliers, we didn’t get to test. So we started off behind and we went into the season looking at it as just a learning weekend.
“I’ve never even driven a front-wheel drive car before testing on Friday afternoon. It’s just been about learning as much as I can every session.
“Everybody from SEAT Sport to other teams and drivers have been very helpful. We’re making progress but there’s a lot to learn and it’s a very, very new world for me and the team as well. We’ve got good experienced guys but we’re all new to the car and new to the series.”