Norwegian racer Stian Paulsen has entered his own team into TCR Europe for the 2018 season, driving a repaired CUPRA TCR which was damaged last season.
Paulsen’s CUPRA TCR sustained heavy damage at the Oschersleben TCR International meeting last July, and he has been working to repair it ever since.
The 30-year-old has previously competed in the German Volkswagen Polo Cup in 2007, before moving onto the Belgian Renault Clio Cup in 2008.
More recently, he raced in the Seat Lèon Eurocup from 2014 to 2016, finishing third in the standings in his final season in the series.
Last year he competed in the European rounds of the TCR International Series, with a best finish of eighth position in race two at the Hungaroring.
Paulsen has not driven since the incident at Oschersleben last year, so he is looking forward to getting on the TCR Europe grid this season.
“I am very very excited to be part of the TCR Europe programme,” said Paulsen. “It’s perfect for me to run my own team.
“All races are within a distance which I can drive to with my Sprinter and all the races are in beautiful places.”
Paulsen is unsure as to whether the car will be repaired in time for the season opener at Paul Ricard on 5/6 May.
“I am way after my time plan, because I had to use a lot of time to find the money, so I’m still working on my car these days.
“It’s still damaged after the start crash at Oschersleben in the TCR International race.
“It’s not 100% sure that I manage to get ready for Paul Ricard, but I’m pushing really hard to manage that!”