The Italian Team Bacci are to enter two Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce cars in the 2017 TC Open series, with Andrea Mosca to race one of the 1.75-litre turbocharged engine cars.
The cars will be prepared by AR Motorsport, which is headed up by owner Stefano Landi. They have previously been run in the TCT class of the Italian Touring Car Championship in 2016, at the hands of Mosca and Andrea Bacci.
Developed during 2016, the cars were built with the aim of using as many Italian components as possible to ensure that the finished product is a true Italian Alfa Romeo. Bacci Romano Transmissions are engaged in producing racing gearboxes for all types of competition car, whilst AR Motorsport have a 20-year history of preparing touring cars for the firm.
The cars proved to be strong at the tail end of 2016, being able to compete with some of the TCR-spec cars in the Italian championship.
“The development of the cars during the 2016 racing weekends was very fast and positive on all the sub-systems of the cars,” explained Bacci. “For the new season the European challenge is very interesting and exciting for our team.
“We are sure that the competition will be challenging. We know there are a lot of competitive drivers who will fight on the most prestigious circuits comprised in the championship”.
Mosca himself isexpecting the Alfa to be competitive in the new TC Open Series from the word go.
“The European TC Open will be an amazing experience for our team,” said Mosca. “I am very excited about it. I am sure that our Giulietta will be very competitive after last year’s development in the Italian National championship and I look forward to the start of first race”.
Landi of AR Motorsport added that Bacci’s suggestion to move away from the Italian championship in 2017 was a move that was quickly accepted.
“Andrea is a friend and a very fast driver,” added Landi. “Our proposal to race in TC Open was immediately accepted by him. All of the team worked hard on the cars during the winter to produce some modifications and developments, mostly on the exhaust system and on the aerodynamics.”
The TC Open season kicks off at Spa-Francorchamps on the 27th and 28th May.