Gruber and Buri to race for Team Engstler in TCR Germany

Team Engstler will fight to defend its title with an all-new driver line-up for 2020, with TCR Germany championship regular Antti Buri joining the team, with 18-year-old rookie Nico Gruber as his team-mate.
It will be 31-year-old Buri’s fifth year in the series, but the first time he hasn’t raced for his own team. The Finnish driver finished third in last year’s championship in a close battle with eventual champion Max Hasse, and Austrian driver Harald Proczyk.
Buri’s team-mate will be Nico Gruber, who already has experience of the team’s Hyundai i30 N TCR, after racing in the first two rounds of this year’s TCR Malaysia championship, taking a race win on his debut weekend.
Team Engstler will run three cars, with the third car reserved, as it was last year, for a VIP guest driver. Last year the guests included Jessica Bäckman, Gabriele Tarquini and rally star Thierry Neuville.

“With Antti and Nico we are very well placed," said team manager Andreas Klinge. “We are welcoming one of the fastest TCR drivers of the past years and a young, up-and-coming talent. With them, we have a good chance of defending the two titles we won last year. With Nico, we also want to fight for the Junior Challenge title for young drivers."

"I am very happy to be able to compete with the Hyundai i30 N," said Buri. “The Engstler team is a top outfit in motorsport, and the Hyundai is very strong, so it will certainly be a very interesting season. My goal is clearly to win the title. The series is very competitive, but I'll give it my all.”

"The Hyundai is very stable and allows much higher cornering speeds than I expected from a touring car," said Gruber. "My aim is to learn as much as possible with the experienced Team Engstler, reach the top five regularly, and win the rookie title."

Picture: TCR Malaysia