Race preview: New track, same intense glory chase as WTCR vrooms to Vallelunga 19.07.2022: WTCR RACE OF ITALY Rounds: 11 and 12 of 20 Date: July 22-24 Venue: Autodromo Vallelunga Piero Taruffi - All-action FIA World Touring Car series makes first stop at famous venue close to Rome

WTCR RACE OF ITALY
Rounds: 11 and 12 of 20
Date: July 22-24
Venue: Autodromo Vallelunga Piero Taruffi



- All-action FIA World Touring Car series makes first stop at famous venue close to Rome

- Home legend Tarquini tips Goodyear #FollowTheLeader Azcona for more on-track success

- Tarquini-managed BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse from Italy tops provisional Teams’ standings

- Complimentary access for fans with FIA ETCR eTouring Car World Cup also part of the billing

- WTCR’s wide-open nature highlighted by all five customer racing brands winning in 2022




The WTCR − FIA World Touring Car Cup is heading to unchartered territory from July 22-24 when Vallelunga hosts WTCR Race of Italy for the first time.



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.

HOW A FORMER KING OF WTCR IS HELPING GOODYEAR #FOLLOWTHELEADER AZCONA



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.




WHO WILL BE THE WTCR’S HERO OF THE TRINCEA?

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.




CORONEL, GUERRIERI, MICHELISZ NEXT TO JOIN THE WTCR 100 CLUB


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.




HUFF ON A HIGH IN WTCR TROPHY


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.




- Richard Rodgers, photos WTCR