The TCR Europe grid at Circuit Paul Ricard has been bolstered by four additional entries this weekend, with Comtoyou Racing adding an Audi for Nicola Baldan, whilst SP Compétition joins with a pair of CUPRAs for Aurélien Comte and Sacha Bottemanne and Target Competition expands with Marco Butti.
Baldan started the current TCR Europe season with Aggressive Team Italia, but only contested the season opener in Portugal, before the team switched to focus on running its other campaign in TCR Italy.
With Baldan not racing in Italy either, this weekend sees his return to TCR competition, this time in an Audi with the Belgian Comtoyou outfit. Baldan last raced an RS3 in the final two rounds of last year’s Italian series, finishing second at Vallelunga.
Comte joins having recently claimed his first TCR win in five years, when he won at Mugello in TCR Italy. In fact, the Frenchman would have won both races, had it not been for a post-race five-second penalty in race two when he exceeded track limits too much.
The SP Compétition team running Comte will also add a second CUPRA, for rookie Frenchman Sacha Bottemanne. The 34-year-old has extensive experience in GT racing, but this weekend marks a first foray into touring cars.
Target competition is also adding an additional car this weekend, with TCR Italy regular Marco Butti joining the team alongside full-season entrant Dušan Borković.
Butti won the season opener in TCR Italy, and has claimed pole position at every event, but he recently picked up time penalties in both races of the last event at Mugello, denting his domestic title charge.
Having taken over Volcano Motorsport’s second Audi from Isaac Smith, Ukrainian racer Daniel Tkachenko will continue to race for the Spain-based team this weekend.
ALM Motorsport is also going to field Ruben Volt for a second successive TCR Europe weekend, with the Estonian racer in the only FL5 Honda Civic in the field.
The races at Le Castellet are set to take place amidst an ongoing heatwave in Mediterranean Europe, providing an additional challenge to the 14-car field.
Tom Coronel is the current championship leader, holding a 44-point lead over team-mate John Filippi, with Kobe Pauwels – also a team-mate – just six points further back.
Target Competition’s Dušan Borković is the best-placed non-Audi driver to challenge them, the Hyundai racer fourth overall going into the event, albeit now 103 points behind Coronel.
Race one takes place on Saturday at 19:05 CEST (18:05 BST) followed by race two at 12:10 CEST (11:10 BST) on Sunday.