An agreement to launch a TCR Eastern Europe Trophy for 2019 has been reached between WSC Ltd. and Race Event Management, with rounds to be both shared with TCR Europe and run as standalone events.
The announcement comes after the success of several Eastern European drivers in the TCR Europe series in 2018 – where there have been five full-season drivers from Hungary, Serbia and Macedonia, with Hungarian drivers Dániel Nagy and Attila Tassi taking victories as well as Serbian racer Dušan Borkovič.
The Trophy will be held over five or six events, with three or four in conjunction with TCR Europe and a further two as stand-alone events.
Elgibility for points will be restricted to drivers and teams only from Eastern European countries, with the Trophy to be promoted by Austria-based Race Event Management, which has in recent years promoted the Austrian Touring Car Championship and the Austrian Tourenwagen Cup.
“We are grateful to WSC for giving us this opportunity,” said Race Event Management Director Rainer Werner. “The participation of drivers and teams from Eastern Europe in the 2018 TCR Europe and the FIA Central European Zone is the evidence that those countries are a large enough basin that deserves a dedicated trophy.”
WSC Director Marcello Lotti said the time had come to create a standalone Trophy for those drivers hailing from the Eastern part of the European continent, with the target being for a full-scale championship in the year or two afterwards.
“Everyone can see that motorsport is booming in the Eastern European countries,” said Lotti. “The number of drivers and teams coming from there is consistently growing, year after year.
“Together with Race Event Management we deemed the time has come to establish a dedicated trophy for them.
“We decided to start by running part of the series together with TCR Europe, but we are thinking of an independent championship from 2020 or 2021.”
TCR Europe promoter Paulo Ferreira drew parallels with the way in which TCR Benelux has been incorporated into TCR Europe in 2018.
“The inclusion of a TCR Eastern Europe Trophy in selected events of the 2019 TCR Europe series echoes that of the TCR Benelux Trophy from the current season,” added Ferreira.
“It’s further evidence of the interactivity between different promoters that is possible within the TCR category.”