The TCR presence in Asia has been further strengthened by the recent launch of a China series in addition to the existing Asia and Thailand series.
In the spirit of the TCR concept the three championships have now begun working together to establish a meaningful cooperation. Next year, the TCR Asia Series will run two joint events with TCR Thailand and two with TCR China.
“This proves the TCR concept of National championships being able to join with the Regional championships,” TCR Asia promoter David Sonenscher explained. “As more National championships open up across the Asian Region, the grid numbers will begin to grow more quickly, and with it, interest in the category and more opportunities for drivers to climb the Touring Car ladder.”
TCR Asia and TCR Thailand will run together at Buriram (25 June) and Bangsaen (9 July), while TCR Asia and TCR China will share the bill at Zhejiang (6 August) and Shanghai (27 August).
“We are very happy to join the TCR family. We believe TCR China will be successful under the fair TCR International regulations and our endeavour. Racing together with the TCR International Series at Zhejiang International Circuit will be a great opportunity for Chinese drivers to compete with the international drivers. We hope we are able to develop TCR China well in terms of commercial, entertainment and media,” said David Huang, CEO TCR China.
TCR Thailand promoter Paritat Bulbon stated: “The cross pollination between the national and regional series is what really attracted us to TCR in the first place as it allows Thai competitors to be able to compete against the best in Asia and the world on a level playing field, smoothly helping drivers to integrate onto the international stage while providing even greater return on the investment they made to join TCR Thailand. We’re very proud that we were the first national promoter in Asia to commit to the TCR concept and we’re looking forward to the arrival of TCR China, which will clearly accelerate the regional growth of the TCR platform.”
As an added bonus, both the TCR Asia and TCR China competitors will run in an invitational race at the Guia Circuit in Macau on 19 November.
“I am delighted to see that the collaboration between the TCR promoters worldwide becomes closer and closer. This kind of exchange is one of the founding pillars of the TCR building and we must all work together to make it higher and stronger, ”TCR promoter Marcello Lotti commented.
TCR Thailand and TCR China will also race together once apiece with the TCR International Series, at Buriram (3 September) and Zhejiang (8 October) respectively.