Petr Fulín has been announced as the first wildcard to enter the Slovakian round of this year’s FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR).
Competing for his own Fullín Race Academy team, the 43-year-old Czech will drive a new CUPRA Leon Competición, adding to the three Leons already entered by Zengő Motorsport.
In the hands of Mikel Azcona, the new Leon has looked increasingly competitive, and Fulín is in a good position to capitalise on that.
Having already run the car at this circuit in the TCR Eastern Europe Series, Fulín arrives with arguably even more experience of the new model than his Hungarian counterparts.
Petr Fulín, a triple champion in the European Touring Car Cup, has been a regular competitor in the upper echelons of tin-top racing for the past decade.
As recently as 2018, Fulín was present on the WTCR grid in the previous generation CUPRA Leon TCR, again at the Slovakiaring. On that occasion, he walked away from the event with an impressive best result of fifth place, highlighting his ability to raise eyebrows at this level.
Now with CUPRA’s latest TCR offering at his disposal, Fulín believes that he is even better placed to cause an upset.
“The previous CUPRA was actually the inspiration for the creation of the TCR class, but it was a cup technique,” he explained. “Other carmakers then took full advantage of the technical regulation and built real ‘racing cars’. The new CUPRA is more advanced in all respects.”
But while his machinery may be fresh off the production line, Fulín himself may find that he has some rust to shake off. In recent years, he has taken a step back from the drivers seat, instead choosing to focus on coaching young drivers such as Petr Čížek and Carol Wittke.
As such, there was plenty to consider before taking up the FIA’s invitation.
“The reason why I will rejoin the series after two years is the interplay of several factors,” he explained. “First of all, I got the opportunity from the FIA to start as a wildcard. That in itself would probably not be enough, but the new Goodyear tyres, which do not degrade so much, new car and also my two-year absence in a prestigious race, all this made me finally nod at the offer.”
Petr Fulín will join the rest of the WTCR regulars in Slovakia on the 10th/11th October.