Kumho TCR World Tour title completes remarkable year for Hyundai Elantra N TCR customers
The inaugural Kumho TCR World Tour for Drivers title, a sixth top-level touring car title in as many years, completed a superb season for Hyundai Motorsport’s Elantra N TCR customers.
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New for 2023, the Kumho TCR World Tour marked the latest chapter of top-level TCR competition, taking the place of WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup which ended in 2022. Each stop on the calendar allowed full-time World Tour entrants to be on track alongside counterparts racing in regional and national TCR championships, including Europe, Australia, South America and Asia.
Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing drivers Norbert Michelisz and Mikel Azcona reunited with BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse and the Hyundai Elantra N TCR to contest the inaugural season. The excellent record of the drivers in WTCR continued into the new series, with the team securing three pole positions, nine fastest laps, 13 podium visits and five wins across the 20-race season.
2023 has also seen Hyundai Motorsport customers score more than 40 race wins across the globe, with the Hyundai Elantra N TCR also powering success in a number of series. In May, Hyundai Motorsport secured a third consecutive class 1-2 at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, where 2022 winners Mikel Azcona, Marc Basseng and Manuel Lauck successfully defended their 2022 title.
In September, Mat’o Homola confirmed himself as drivers’ champion in TCR Eastern Europe at the penultimate round in Most. He then ended the season in style, helping his Janík Motorsport squad claim the teams’ title with the Hyundai Elantra N TCR. Meanwhile in the USA, the Hyundai Motor America-supported Bryan Herta Autosport team secured a fourth consecutive sweep of the drivers’, teams’ and manufacturers’ titles in the TCR class of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge.
There was also success in Australia where HMO Customer Racing driver Josh Buchan took top honours in TCR Australia after a dramatic final round at the Mount Panorama circuit in Bathurst, which saw the Australian leapfrog his team-mate to take the title. Just a week later in Macau, the Kumho TCR World Tour title was not the only honours won by Hyundai Motorsport customers; Hyundai N Team driver Martin Cao secured the TCR China drivers’ title in the series finale. The Hyundai Elantra N TCR also clinched the car model championship title in the series after Hyundai drivers won half of the series’ 12 races during the season.
The success of the customer teams not only proves the Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing offering to be among the fastest in the TCR category, but it also promotes Hyundai’s high-performance N range. Inspired by motorsport, Hyundai’s global R&D network gains experience from rally and race competition which becomes the engineering inspiration behind future generations of N brand models.
Hyundai Motor Company Vice President of N Brand & Motorsport Till Wartenberg said: “I am very pleased to celebrate Norbert Michelisz’s 2023 Kumho TCR World Tour for Drivers’ title. His victory continues the winning record of the Hyundai Elantra N TCR at the highest level after our customers won the final WTCR driver and team titles last year. I would like to thank to the BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse team for their work, which was rewarded with great competitiveness in global TCR competition. It has been another incredible season for Elantra N TCR drivers, winning titles around the world, including a remarkable success in TCR China series in the first season for the Hyundai N Team working with N brand in the Chinese market. I hope that these achievements can contribute to adding the excellent reputation of the Elantra N TCR and to promoting N brand worldwide.”
Hyundai Motorsport Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul said: “This year has been another fantastic year for our Hyundai Elantra N TCR customers. Winning the inaugural Kumho TCR World Tour for Drivers is a special moment, as we have begun the new chapter of top-level touring car racing in the best way possible, continuing the success that we saw in WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup. With titles secured in Eastern Europe, USA, Australia and China as well, the success of Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing built cars has been seen across the globe.”
Norbert Michelisz said: “It has been an incredible season. To secure my second top-level touring car title is unbelievable. Though it is a drivers’ title it has been won with the help of an amazing team and the fantastic support of Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing. I have felt confident all year with the Hyundai Elantra N TCR, it has helped me to keep fighting at the front of the field. I also feel blessed to be part of this team, and without them and the work they have put in to improve the Elantra N TCR across the season, this would not have been possible.”
New for 2023, the Kumho TCR World Tour marked the latest chapter of top-level TCR competition, taking the place of WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup which ended in 2022. Each stop on the calendar allowed full-time World Tour entrants to be on track alongside counterparts racing in regional and national TCR championships, including Europe, Australia, South America and Asia.
Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing drivers Norbert Michelisz and Mikel Azcona reunited with BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse and the Hyundai Elantra N TCR to contest the inaugural season. The excellent record of the drivers in WTCR continued into the new series, with the team securing three pole positions, nine fastest laps, 13 podium visits and five wins across the 20-race season.
2023 has also seen Hyundai Motorsport customers score more than 40 race wins across the globe, with the Hyundai Elantra N TCR also powering success in a number of series. In May, Hyundai Motorsport secured a third consecutive class 1-2 at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, where 2022 winners Mikel Azcona, Marc Basseng and Manuel Lauck successfully defended their 2022 title.
In September, Mat’o Homola confirmed himself as drivers’ champion in TCR Eastern Europe at the penultimate round in Most. He then ended the season in style, helping his Janík Motorsport squad claim the teams’ title with the Hyundai Elantra N TCR. Meanwhile in the USA, the Hyundai Motor America-supported Bryan Herta Autosport team secured a fourth consecutive sweep of the drivers’, teams’ and manufacturers’ titles in the TCR class of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge.
There was also success in Australia where HMO Customer Racing driver Josh Buchan took top honours in TCR Australia after a dramatic final round at the Mount Panorama circuit in Bathurst, which saw the Australian leapfrog his team-mate to take the title. Just a week later in Macau, the Kumho TCR World Tour title was not the only honours won by Hyundai Motorsport customers; Hyundai N Team driver Martin Cao secured the TCR China drivers’ title in the series finale. The Hyundai Elantra N TCR also clinched the car model championship title in the series after Hyundai drivers won half of the series’ 12 races during the season.
The success of the customer teams not only proves the Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing offering to be among the fastest in the TCR category, but it also promotes Hyundai’s high-performance N range. Inspired by motorsport, Hyundai’s global R&D network gains experience from rally and race competition which becomes the engineering inspiration behind future generations of N brand models.
Hyundai Motor Company Vice President of N Brand & Motorsport Till Wartenberg said: “I am very pleased to celebrate Norbert Michelisz’s 2023 Kumho TCR World Tour for Drivers’ title. His victory continues the winning record of the Hyundai Elantra N TCR at the highest level after our customers won the final WTCR driver and team titles last year. I would like to thank to the BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse team for their work, which was rewarded with great competitiveness in global TCR competition. It has been another incredible season for Elantra N TCR drivers, winning titles around the world, including a remarkable success in TCR China series in the first season for the Hyundai N Team working with N brand in the Chinese market. I hope that these achievements can contribute to adding the excellent reputation of the Elantra N TCR and to promoting N brand worldwide.”
Hyundai Motorsport Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul said: “This year has been another fantastic year for our Hyundai Elantra N TCR customers. Winning the inaugural Kumho TCR World Tour for Drivers is a special moment, as we have begun the new chapter of top-level touring car racing in the best way possible, continuing the success that we saw in WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup. With titles secured in Eastern Europe, USA, Australia and China as well, the success of Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing built cars has been seen across the globe.”
Norbert Michelisz said: “It has been an incredible season. To secure my second top-level touring car title is unbelievable. Though it is a drivers’ title it has been won with the help of an amazing team and the fantastic support of Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing. I have felt confident all year with the Hyundai Elantra N TCR, it has helped me to keep fighting at the front of the field. I also feel blessed to be part of this team, and without them and the work they have put in to improve the Elantra N TCR across the season, this would not have been possible.”
