New world series

TCR racing battle it out in 2023 for a new world crown in international motorsport. For Audi Sport and its customer racing teams, this will offer up another chance for the hugely successful RS 3 LMS to add to what is already an overflowing trophy cabinet, with Audi Sport Team Comtoyou contesting the entire competition with two Audi RS 3 LMS cars and an equally impressive driver line-up that includes two-time Nürburgring 24 Hours winner, Frédéric Vervisch.

He will be joined by British driver Rob Huff in the series which will see racing around the globe, including two races to be held in Australia. 

“We are delighted that Jean-Michel Baert and his Comtoyou team are once again doing pioneering work and will be involved in the new Kumho TCR World Tour from day one, just as he did in the FIA WTCR back then,” says Chris Reinke, Head of Audi Sport customer racing. 

“For this purpose, we are making our experienced touring and sports car driver Frédéric Vervisch available to him, who knows the team very well. We keep our fingers crossed for the whole team.” 

Racing will take place in motorsport hot beds around the world, with races in Portimão (Portugal), Spa (Belgium), Vallelunga (Italy) and the Hungaroring (Hungary) in April to June, followed by El Pinar (Uruguay) and San Luis (Argentina) in August.

Both Sydney and Bathurst will host races in November, with the final race of the series to be held on the acclaimed street circuit in Macau, also in November. The format adopted by the TCR World Tour means that the races will be embedded into local events, so that the Australian race meetings will form part of the existing TCR Australia calendar – likewise those races held under the auspices of TCR Europe to TCR Italy, TCR South America and TCR Asia Challenge. 

In the Kumho TCR World Tour, competitors will race for the Kumho TCR World Cup in the drivers’ and team standings, with two qualifying sessions and two sprint races – three sprints at the events in Australia – on the schedule for each of the nine race weekends.

Audi Sport driver Frédéric Vervisch is certainly no stranger to the Audi RS 3 LMS, having campaigned the car extensively with great success for several seasons. His second place overall for Comtoyou Team Audi Sport in 2021 was his best best touring car championship result in the FIA WTCR, so he will be looking to go one better in 2023 in the new Kumho TCR World Cup. Likewise he has seen plenty of action around the famous Mount Panorama circuit at Bathurst, driving another Audi Sport model – the R8 LMS. Most recently he campaigned the R8 LMS in this year’s Bathurst 12 Hour race as part of the Fuchs Lubricants Racing team sharing the driver duties with Brad Schumacher and James Golding.

The new international series will offer another opportunity for the RS 3 LMS to build on its already impressive record in TCR racing at an international level. Since its introduction in 29107, the touring car based on the brand’s formidable RS 3 Sedan has claimed 17 individual victories in the WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup, 29 overall titles and 72 additional class titles. It has also won the TCR Model of the Year three times in the past five years, with both the first and second generations of the car.