Race preview: New track, same intense glory chase as WTCR vrooms to Vallelunga

But while the WTCR might be new to the venue north of Rome, Vallelunga is part of Italian motorsport folklore with the track the setting of many famous touring car battles in the early 1990s.

And by using the Autodromo Vallelunga Piero Taruffi’s 3.228-kilometre Historical International layout, fans will get the ultimate view of the action thanks to the giant grandstand located on the start/finish straight offering views of much of the circuit.

With the FIA ETCR eTouring Car World Cup from WTCR promoter Discovery Sports Events sharing top billing, there’s plenty to keep spectators entertained, plus complimentary venue access.

Having opened in 1951, Autodromo Vallelunga Piero Taruffi is named in honour of the Mille Miglia road racer, who was the track’s principal design engineer. It has played host to international and national-level competition over the past half-century, including the inaugural ETCR event in June last year and the first FIA Motorsport Games in October, which included the Touring Car Cup consisting of two races for TCR cars.

The WTCR heads to Italy with the title race tightly poised following the recent visit to Portugal for some classic round-the-houses racing Vila Real style. Having won three times in 2022, Spain’s Mikel Azcona is the Goodyear #FollowTheLeader with a 16-point title advantage. Driving a Hyundai Elantra TCR for Italian outfit BRC Racing Team, Azcona has previous Vallelunga knowledge to count on.

“In Vallelunga I have driven only once, last year with ETCR, so I have very good memories,” the 26-year-old said. “I like the track and for the TCR car it matches very well. When you are leading [the standings] it is always good. For Vallelunga it gives us a small advantage but not everything can happen in one weekend. We just need to keep following on this line with good results, a good feeling with the car, and a good atmosphere working with the team and everybody.”

Azcona replaced Gabriele Tarquini alongside Norbert Michelisz in the BRC line-up for 2022 after the Italian legend retired from full-time driving at the end of last season following a glittering career that included winning the first WTCR title in 2018. He’s now Team Manager at Cherasco-based BRC.

“Mikel is very fast and has probably made the best start to a season there has been,” Tarquini said. “I was pushing Hyundai to Mikel because I trust him, I was racing with him and I know he is one of the best drivers so I push very hard to have Mikel in the team, even if I didn’t then know I would be working with the team. For sure if I can tell him something from my experience I will do so but, to be honest, he doesn’t need a lot of support from me because he’s great.”

Tarquini’s view of Azcona hasn’t always been so positive, however, with the duo both known for their pace but combative driving style. “The first impact with Mikel was not very good because we crashed together in Hungary [in 2019] although this is part of the game and in this category in the beginning it’s very easy to have contact. But I remember my last win [in WTCR] last year in Aragón. He was following me for the full race, he drove very well and was a very tough opponent for me.”

Having turned 60 in March, Tarquini could have settled for a more relaxed retirement following a career that began back in 1974 but found the chance to move into team management too tempting to turn down. “To be honest nothing is more exciting than driving but this new job, to be part of the team, to try to transfer my long experience… except for the driver the second-best place in the team is the job I am doing now.”

Azcona is one of five drivers to have won WTCR races in 2022 and heads Santiago Urrutia (Cyan Performance Lynk & Co) and King of WTCR Yann Ehrlacher (Cyan Racing Lynk & Co) in the provisional standings. Urrutia, ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport’s Néstor Girolami, Zengő Motorsport’s Rob Huff and Comtoyou Team Audi Sport’s Gilles Magnus have also triumphed outright in 2022 to underline the wide-open nature of the WTCR.

It’s not just the two race wins that will be up for grabs at WTCR Race of Italy. The Trincea Hero Trophy has been created to recognise the driver who takes Vallelunga’s famous and fearsome Trincea corner the fastest. Trincea is a super-fast right/left kink that rewards commitment with a speed trap used to establish who is the bravest in either Race 1 or Race 2.

After Thed Björk, Yann Ehrlacher and Yvan Muller became the first drivers to achieve the milestone of 100 WTCR starts in Vila Real, Tom Coronel (Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport), Esteban Guerrieri (ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport) and Norbert Michelisz (BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse) are set to follow suit at WTCR Race of Italy. Coronel and Guerrieri have 99 WTCR starts to their name, while Michelisz is on 98.

Rob Huff, who won Race 2 outright at WTCR Race of Portugal earlier this month, is on a high in the WTCR Trophy for independent racers after he moved into a 36-point advantage with his seventh category win from eight starts in Vila Real. The class for drivers with no financial backing from a manufacturer was introduced in 2020 and lists Jean-Karl Vernay and Gilles Magnus as its title winners to date. Huff won the category in Race 2 at WTCR Clean Fuels for All Race of France after Mehdi Bennani had triumphed in the opening counter for Comtoyou Team Audi Sport. British driver Huff then took a win double at the Hungaroring, a performance he matched at MotorLand Aragón and Circuito Internacional de Vila Real in his Zengő Motorsport CUPRA Leon Competición. Tom Coronel and Huff’s team-mate Dániel Nagy have been WTCR Trophy podium visitors this season. Click HERE for the WTCR Trophy standings.

Rounds: 11 and 12 of 20
Date: July 22-24
Venue: Autodromo Vallelunga Piero Taruffi
Location: Via Mola Maggiorana 4, 00063 Campagnano di Roma (RM), Italy
Length: 3.228 kilometres
Race 1 distance: 30 minutes + 1 lap
Race 2 distance: 25 minutes + 1 lap
WTCR lap record (qualifying):
To be established
WTCR lap record (race):To be established

In 100 words: Opened in 1951, Autodromo Vallelunga Piero Taruffi is named in honour of the Mille Miglia road racer and the track’s principal design engineer. The venue near Rome has hosted international and national-level competition over the years. In 2021 it was the setting of the inaugural PURE ETCR event two years after it staged the first FIA Motorsport Games, which included the Touring Car Cup consisting of two races for TCR cars. The 3.2-kilometre Historical International layout will be operational for WTCR Race of Italy having been the track used for a number of famous touring car battles in the 1990s.

Timetable:Friday July 2212h00-13h00: Test Session

Saturday July 2309h00-09h45: Free Practice 1 (Live on Facebook, YouTube, Eurosport Player)
12h15-12h45: Free Practice 2 (Live on Facebook, YouTube, Eurosport Player)
15h00-15h20: Qualifying Q1 (Live on Eurosport Player and other broadcasters around the world)
15h25-15h35: Qualifying Q2 (Live on Eurosport Player and other broadcasters around the world)
15h45-16h00: Qualifying Q3 (Live on Eurosport Player and other broadcasters around the world)

Sunday July 2411h15: Race 1 (30 minutes+1 lap) (Live on Eurosport Player and other broadcasters around the world)
12h00 (approx.): Race 1 podium
17h10: Race 2 (25 minutes+1 lap) (Live on Eurosport Player and other broadcasters around the world)
17h50 (approx.): Race 2 podium

Recent winnersWTCR Race of Italy winners 2021 (Adria International Raceway):Race 1: Santiago Urrutia (URY) Cyan Performance Lynk & Co, Lynk & Co 03 TCR
Race 2: Yann Ehrlacher (FRA) Cyan Racing Lynk & Co, Lynk & Co 03 TCR

WTCR − FIA World Touring Car Cup all-season entry list 2022#5 Norbert Michelisz (HUN) BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse, Hyundai Elantra N TCR
#9 Attila Tasi (HUN) LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler, Honda Civic Type R TCR
#11 Thed Björk (SWE) Cyan Performance Lynk & Co, Lynk & Co 03 TCR
#12 Santiago Urrutia (URY) Cyan Performance Lynk & Co, Lynk & Co 03 TCR
#16 Gilles Magnus (BEL) Comtoyou Team Audi Sport, Audi RS 3 LMS
#17 Nathanaël Berthon (FRA) Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport, Audi RS 3 LMS
#18 Tiago Monteiro (PRT) LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler, Honda Civic Type R TCR
#25 Mehdi Bennani (MAR) Comtoyou Team Audi Sport, Audi RS 3 LMS
#29 Néstor Girolami (ARG) ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R TCR
#33 Tom Coronel (NLD) Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport, Audi RS 3 LMS
#55 Ma Qing Hua (CHN) Cyan Racing Lynk & Co, Lynk & Co 03 TCR
#68 Yann Ehrlacher (FRA) Cyan Performance Lynk & Co, Lynk & Co 03 TCR
#79 Rob Huff (GBR) Zengő Motorsport, CUPRA Leon Competición
#86 Esteban Guerrieri (ARG) ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R TCR
#96 Mikel Azcona (ESP) BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse, Hyundai Elantra N TCR
#99 Dániel Nagy (HUN) Zengő Motorsport, CUPRA Leon Competición
#100 Yvan Muller (FRA) Cyan Racing Lynk & Co, Lynk & Co 03 TCR

Mikel Azcona (BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse / Hyundai Elantra N TCR): “In Vallelunga I have driven only once, last year with ETCR, so I have very good memories, I like the track and for the TCR car it matches very well. When you are leading [the standings] it is always good. For Vallelunga it gives us a small advantage but not everything can happen in one weekend. We just need to keep following on this line with good results, a good feeling with the car, and a good atmosphere working with the team and everybody.”

Esteban Guerrieri (ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport / Honda Civic Type R TCR): “I have good memories from this track after I raced there back in 2003 on the same layout we will race on next weekend. I actually won both races in Formula Renault Italy, which was the last time I raced there. It’s a fun track with very challenging corners. T1 is flat out but a bit bumpy and there’s also the fast left-hander on the back straight [Trincea]. It has a bit of camber and it’s difficult to clip the apex, which makes it easy to lose time. You have some overtaking places in the infield and the last corner with the banking is pretty cool. I really like the track but we will have to keep an eye on the weather because it will be very hot for sure and tyre degradation might be an issue, but let’s see how it goes. I will try to be competitive, which we haven’t been in the last few events, not performing very well in Aragón and then in Vila Real where I had some issues in qualifying that put me on the backfoot for the rest of the weekend. Hopefully we can score big points but a podium or even a win would be great, so let’s go for it.”

Ma Qing Hua (Cyan Performance Lynk & Co / Lynk & Co 03 TCR): “I have never raced at Vallelunga but I have tested there for one day and I would say it’s not a really difficult circuit to learn. There are overtaking opportunities and it will be wonderful for touring car racing. There are a lot of nice corners with possibilities to defend and attack so it will be a good show. As all the Lynk & Co cars will reach the maximum compensation weight it will be a big challenge for us, especially as some of our competitors’ weight will be reduced. It will be more difficult but we still have a good chance to get some good positions and I feel comfortable, even though it will not be easy, not like in Vila Real and the races before. I’m pleased with how my season is going with my new team and I really love the Lynk & Co 03 TCR. It is the car in TCR that I really enjoy to drive, especially in the handling, and Cyan Racing has a huge experience and my team-mates are doing really good. I feel I am doing well, there is a gap to improve myself, but I just need more mileage in the car and on the tracks [that I don’t know].”

Gilles Magnus (Comtoyou Team Audi Sport / Audi RS 3 LMS): “I really like the track, even though we’re using a different layout than we did in 2019 when I was there for the FIA Motorsport Games. I remember it was a nice track and the atmosphere was really cool for that event. For me it was a positive weekend, we could have won the event although I did win the second race so it was good memories and it’s always nice to head back to a track where you’ve had good experiences. I’m sure the shorter track will still be very cool and also it’s cool to be in Italy, it’s a country I like a lot and it will be nice to be close to Rome. If you have good memories of a track it’s nice to head back rather than heading back to a track where you’ve had an awful weekend. This puts me in a better mood. It will be a tough weekend with the 40 kilos and it’s not a track that’s so quick so it might be tough for the characteristics of our car. I expect a hard weekend but, like always, a top 10 in qualifying can change everything.”

Dániel Nagy (Zengő Motorsport / CUPRA Leon Competición): “I really like Vallelunga after I raced there in ETCR last year and I also tested TCR cars there before. It will be a really big shame if I could not race there but I had surgery [on my hand after my crash in Vila Real]. It’s getting better but it’s not in a perfect shape yet. And we are still analysing the exact damage [to the car] so there are two factors for Italy. I need to have my hand recovered and this still concerns me. It depends on my doctors as to how quick I can recover, and secondly, we need to rebuild the car and see if we need to change the chassis or not. If we have the parts to fix the car my team will do it for sure, it’s no question. I had a complete disaster in Qualifying at the Hungaroring [last month] and my car was ready to race 10 hours later so I have very good mechanics. The concern is do we have enough parts and is it possible to do [repair the car].”

*Vallelunga, located 40 kilometres north of the Italian capital Rome, staged its first race in 1951 and is named in honour of Piero Taruffi, the Mille Miglia road racer who was the track’s principal design engineer.

*It has played host to international and national-level competition over the past half-century and last June was the setting of the inaugural PURE ETCR event, which has become the FIA ETCR eTouring Car World Cup for 2022.

*Vallelunga was also setting of the first FIA Motorsport Games in 2019, which included the Touring Car Cup consisting of two races for TCR cars.

*The 3.2-kilometre Historical International layout will be operational for WTCR Race of Italy, the track used for a number of famous touring car battles in the 1990s.

*The WTCR is now 100 races old following Race 2 at WTCR Race of Portugal earlier this month. Thed Björk, Yann Ehrlacher and Yvan Muller all achieved the milestone while Tom Coronel, Esteban Guerrieri and Norbert Michelisz will join the WTCR 100 Club at WTCR Race of Italy.

*Esteban Guerrieri is the WTCR’s most successful driver in terms of race wins with the Honda-powered racer triumphing 10 times for ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport.

*Since the WTCR began in 2018 Gabriele Tarquini (once), Norbert Michelisz (once) and Yann Ehrlacher (twice) have taken the Drivers’ titles.

*Italy has hosted the WTCR once before when Adria International Raceway staged the action in November 2021.

*Several rule changes have been made since then with one three-stage qualifying for two races rather than the previous three. Race 1 is the standard grid race with Race 2 now the partially-reversed counter.

*Race distances have been changed for 2022 with Race 1 scheduled for 30 minutes + 1 lap and Race 2 for 25 minutes + 1 lap.

*The allocation of points has also been adjusted for this season with more points on offer in Qualifying and Race 1.

*Twelve drivers won WTCR races during a wide-open 2021 season with all five customer racing brands winning more than once.

*Eleven nationalities are represented by the drivers this season with a further two represented by teams and two more by manufacturers to underline the WTCR’s global appeal.

*Of the 17 all-season racers, only one driver, Dániel Nagy, has yet to take a WTCR race victory although he has finished second on one occasion and led at WTCR Race of Spain in June.

*The Honda Civic Type R Limited Edition is the Official Safety Car of the WTCR for a third season. Richard Veldwisch from The Netherlands is on driving duty at WTCR Race of Italy.

WTCR − FIA World Touring Car Cup for Drivers provisional standingsGoodyear #FollowTheLeader: Mikel Azcona, 153 points
2 Santiago Urrutia, 137 points
3 Yann Ehrlacher, 133 points
4 Rob Huff, 130 points
5 Néstor Girolami, 113 points

WTCR − FIA World Touring Car Cup for Teams provisional standings1 BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse, 218 points
2 Cyan Performance Lynk & Co, 211 points
3 Cyan Racing Lynk & Co, 211 points
4 ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport, 188 points
5 Zengő Motorsport, 155 points

WTCR Trophy provisional standings1 Rob Huff, 85 points
2 Mehdi Bennani, 49 points
3 Tom Coronel, 34 points
4 Dániel Nagy, 28 points

Click HERE to view the full provisional standings

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