Having marked itself out as the default regulation set for touring car racing around the world, the TCR concept has gained strong footholds in Europe, Asia, Australasia, North America – and from 2021 onwards – South America too.
Indeed, this year sees the formation of a new regional TCR championship, the TCR South America Series, which feels as though it has been a long time coming.
The region has a great history of touring car racing of course, with Super Touring in the nineties, and then championships such as Super TC2000 or Brazilian Stock Cars in the modern day.
So, before the 2021 WTCR campaign got underway last weekend, TouringCars.Net spoke to the championship’s three South American superstars to get their take on the growth of TCR in their home nations.
In Esteban Guerrieri’s eyes, it was a no-brainer to bring the concept to the Southern hemisphere.
“The TCR concept is something which is spot on for motorsport nowadays,” the Argentine said. “The world is trying to minimise and reduce costs, while still having good racing, so I think TCR is a very good concept for this.
“Obviously it’s difficult to manage BoPs [Balance of Performance] and stuff like that, but I believe that the people behind this are trying to do their best.”
As it turns out, both he and compatriot Néstor Girolami had a hand in getting the TCR South America project across the line.
“We actually talked about TCR South America some years ago with Néstor [Girolami], and we kind of pushed for this to happen,” Guerrieri explained. “So we are very happy that this is happening in our region because it’s a kind of worldwide motorsport.
“In Argentina, I would say motorsport is more like Artisan work, with everyone building their own cars and so on, but by bringing these [TCR cars], I think little by little the concept will be introduced to the region.
“I think in Brazil they will adopt this probably easier than in Argentina, but I’m pretty sure that little by little during the next years the concept will be strong, and of course will be a very nice platform for young drivers to develop themselves with a car which they can then jump to Europe [with].”
However, the project doesn’t stop there. Understandably, Guerrieri and Girolami miss having a home race on the WTCR calendar, so they hope that by increasing the presence of TCR in South America, a future trip to the region may well be incentivised further.
“There are two parts of the project: TCR South America, and bringing back WTCR to the region, or more particularly to Argentina,” Guerrieri revealed.
“There has been talks behind [the scenes] about going back with WTCR over there, but at the same time it’s not the best time to make this happen. I understand, and there are other priorities.
“It would be a nice dream to get it back and to share a weekend with TCR South America and the WTCR. And yeah, why not in the near future.”
Cyan Racing’s Santiago Urrutia also got an opportunity to weigh in on the matter, and says he is particularly delighted for the exposure that he hopes his native Uruguay will receive. Plus, as somebody who is always racing away from home, he wouldn’t mind getting involved in the action himself.
“I think it’s really good that TCR is going to South America,” he said. “I think especially for my country, we are a small country so it’s really good to have a race in Uruguay.
“I think if there’s a chance and Cyan allows me to race in South America I think I will, it would be awesome to go racing in South America.”
For Urrutia, the connection that he has to his home nation is a special one. Very few Uruguayans have made it as professional racing drivers over the years, so the adoration that he has received from fellow Uruguayans is something that has served as a big motivational factor for him during his motorsport career so far.
“The only professional driver we had was in 1999,” he explained. “It was Gonzalo Rodriguez, he did one race in CART and then he crashed and died in Laguna Seca, so we waited twenty years to have another professional driver.
“That was me, so I think the people see this as a very big opportunity. I’m super lucky to be in this position, I fought a lot to be in this.
“When we have anyone special in sport, apart from soccer because it’s all about soccer, I think the people really give you their support.
“I just won one race and I met the President in Uruguay and I gave him a [racing] suit, so that was awesome!
“If one day I have the chance to be World Champion, I think it will just be awesome to make a big party, and yeah I think the country will celebrate like hell if I win the championship.
“I’m really happy for the support I have from my country. I’m always alone, I live alone in Barcelona and I’m alone here for the races, so I really feel the support from my country!”
Still a relatively new face within the European motorsport scene, Urrutia is a great example of the growing trend for South American drivers to test their skills in Europe. José Manuel Sapag of Argentina is another driver to have done so, after appearing in both WTCR and TCR Europe last season. Plus, Néstor Girolami’s very own brother is hoping to be the next South American success story in TCR.
This year, Franco Girolami is competing for PSS Racing in the TCR Europe Series, and currently finds himself fourth-placed in the overall drivers’ standings after the first two rounds.
A podium at the Slovakiaring displayed Franco’s underlying pace, so naturally the 29 year-old will be aiming to join his brother Néstor in WTCR some day.
“At the moment he’s just starting his career in TCR Europe, and he is doing well,” ‘Bebu’ Girolami said. “But there are a lot of things to still learn from him.
“I think it’s a good way for him to start in TCR Europe, knowing the tracks, knowing the car, and for sure in the future if he can [become] champion in TCR [Europe], if not in the same brand it would be a dream to compete in the same series at World Touring cars.
“I’m taking care of him, of course I’m helping him as much as I can. I’m doing all the races in TCR Europe to coach him and also Viktor Davidovski, who is the owner of the team.
“So I would stay it’s step by step. The first thing is for him to learn and to gain experience in TCR, and then in the future we will see how he is performing and what are the opportunities for the future.”
Now with the new regional championship having been formed, it is hoped that a much more obvious pipeline will be created for young South American talent to make the transition to Europe and Worldwide racing.
The inaugural round of the TCR South America Series is set to get underway in Brazil at the Interlagos F1 circuit, on the weekend of 26-27 June.