TCR / 06 May 2024
World Tour podiums and Italian victory for Civic Type R TCR
The Honda Civic Type R TCR scored a double podium in the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour plus a TCR Italy Rookie Trophy victory on an all-action weekend when high-class touring car racing ensued on three continents.
Kumho FIA TCR World Tour
GOAT Racing scored a double-podium result as Esteban Guerrieri and Dusan Borkovic finished second and third on the streets of Marrakech, Morocco.
Full-season driver Guerrieri and guest Borkovic had started second and third in Saturday's second race and drove consistently to score a result that puts Guerrieri fourth in the standings.
The Argentinian ace was ninth in Race One, having been barged off the track two laps in succession by rivals while Borkovic retired after being hit up the rear by another car.
JAS Motorsport Development Driver Marco Butti scored his first fastest lap in the series; the teenager tearing through the field from 14th to 10th after stalling at the start of Race One before an engine issue put him out. He was seventh in Race Two.
Guest entrant Victor Fernandez was 12th in both races.
TCR Italy
MM Motorsport's Jacopo Cimenes made a hugely impressive TCR debut as he scored a Rookie Trophy victory at Misano.
Having qualified his Honda Civic Type R TCR eighth, he retired from the opening race due to contact, but produced an ultra-strong drive on Sunday to take sixth overall and scoop Rookie honours.
Team-mate and fellow debutant Federico Danova climbed from 22nd to ninth by the end of Race One while RTM Motorsport's Antonio Citera was a puncture-afflicted 17th and 20th.
ALM Motorsport duo Ruben Volt and Levente Losonczy - the latter a JAS Development Driver - were two of the stars on Sunday; the pair 12th and 13th after the first few turns, but climbing to seventh and eighth (third and fourth in the Under-25s division).
Paolo Rocca retired after mid-race contact while he and his team-mates all suffered punctures in Race One that dropped them well down the order; Volt after carving through the field from seventh to third in just under half the race.
TCR Asia
The first race in the series since 2022 took place at Sepang, Malaysia, and began superbly for Umar Abdullah as the Delta Garage Racing driver set the pace in opening practice.
The Indonesian qualified fourth, dropped several places on the first lap of Saturday's opener, but was back to fourth by the end of the next tour and finished there.
It took him a little longer to work his way through in Race Two, but this time he was rewarded with a maiden podium result in third place.