Argentine team Squadra Martino has confirmed José Manuel Sapag as its first signing for the 2021 TCR South America series, where the Argentine will race a Honda Civic Type-R.
Sapag has some limited experience of TCR racing from recent seasons, having first competed in the TCR Europe series at Monza in 2018 in a CUPRA.
He then returned to Europe in the Autumn of 2020, making guest appearances in both TCR Europe (for the final three events) and the FIA World Touring Car Cup in Hungary and Spain, racing a Hyundai i30 N with Target Competition.
Sapag is currently focussed on competing in the Argentine Súper TC2000 championship, where he is racing with the Puma Energy Honda Racing team.
The 25-year-old recently took part in a test with the team at Alta Gracia, where he shared the car with Facundo Ardusso and Juan Angel ‘Colo’ Rosso.
“The test was really positive,” said Sapag. “We tested several different things. The goal was not to set fast laps but analyse the Civic’s reactions to different set-up configurations.
“The TCR cars are fast and nice to handle. I have enough experience with this category to understand that the Honda has a great potential.”
Team principal Sebastián Martino is pleased to be able to welcome Sapag into the team’s fold.
“We are delighted to welcome Sapag in our team,” added Martino. “We are aware that this is an interesting challenge, and we are very motivated to work together with him on this project.
“The test in Alta Gracia was important, now we will continue to accumulate kilometres and data so that we can arrive in the best possible shape to the first events of the championship.”