TCR Europe resumes at Spa-Francorchamps

The TCR Europe Series resumes this weekend at Spa-Francorchamps for rounds 5 and 6.
After the first two race meetings of the season, Target Competition’s Josh Files leads the standings with 112 points, five more than Julien Briché who has won the second races at the Hungaroring and Hockenheim. Young Belgian driver Gilles Magnus, who was leading the championship before the races in Germany, has slipped down to third, 23 points behind the leader.
At Spa, due to a track activity restriction for limiting the noise, the two Practice sessions on Friday will be reduced by five minutes, from 30 to 25.
Last year’s visit to the Ardennes region resulted in victories for Jean-Karl Vernay and Briché who has a good opportunity to stretch his winning streak at the wheel of his JSB Compétition Peugeot 308.
But the strong Belgian contingent is also aiming to make the most out of their home event.
Team WRT that won with Vernay last year, fields a strong trio formed by local driver Maxime Potty who claimed his first TCR Europe podiums at Spa in 2018, Uruguay’s raising star Santiago Urrutia and the former BTCC champion Ashley Sutton as a guest. Magnus and Comtoyou Racing are eager to retake the leadership in the standings, while Boutsen Ginion Racing has also an opportunity to shine after Tom Coronel showed a strong form at Hockenheim.
The elevation changes of the Belgian circuit will also be a factor in conjunction with the weight of the cars. In this respect, the Hyundai i30 N will be the only model carrying the maximum 60-kilo Compensation Weight, while the Peugeot cars will have only 10 extra kilos on board and the other cars will have none.
The two races will start at 13:50 on Saturday and 12:00 on Sunday (CET); live streaming at www.tcr-series.com and www.tcr-series.tv.