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TCR 2016
NEWS
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DRIVERS TEAM
LADA to join
Russian championship with TCR car
SEAT champion
dreams
of racing in TCR
LADA Sport and its commercial
partner Rosneft will be deeply
involved in the SMP Russian Circuit
Racing Series from next year, with
special focus on the Touring class for
TCR cars.
The news was announced at the
International Motorsport Forum held
at the Moscow Raceway by LADA
Marketing director Aleksandr
Bredikhin.
The LADA Sport Rosneft team has
left the Touring-Light class of the
RCRS, after claiming two consecutive
titles in 2015 and 2016 with Dmitry
Bragin at the wheel of a Kalina NFR
model.
“From next season LADA
and Rosneft will support young
talented drivers in the National
class with 150-hp Kalina cars and
will also compete with a couple of
1.6-litre turbocharged Vesta cars in
the Super-Production class. However,
the most important programme will
be in the Touring class, where two
LADA Vesta cars will be built and
developed according to the TCR
technical regulations. As we don’t
have a 2.0-litre turbo engine in our
production range, the Vesta TCR will
be powered by the Renault-Nissan
engine of the Mégane RS,” Bredikhin
announced.
As for the future, he added: “It is
likely that, after the 2017 season
spent in the SMP RCRS, LADA and
Rosfnet will be considering entering
the TCR International Series.”
Niels Langeveld, the freshly crowned champion in the SEAT
Eurocup, is dreaming of racing in the TCR International Series
from next year. The 28-year-old from the Netherlands has
proved to be very competitive at the wheel of front-wheel
drive saloon cars by clinching titles in the 2010 Dutch Suzuki
Swift Cup, the 2012 Dutch Renault Clio Cup and the 2015
Benelux Renault Clio Cup before winning the SEAT Eurocup in
his rookie season thanks to five race victories and a number of
podium positions. When asked about his future plans,
Langeveld said:
"I don’t know yet, but my goal is to
stay with SEAT and be a good ambassador for this great brand,
because I want to be a professional driver and SEAT knows how
I can reach my objective! My dream is racing in the TCR
International Series. This would be a great chance for me to
show my qualities and whether I'm capable of performing at this
high level of touring car racing!
"