20 / 34
20
WORLD AND LIFE
TCR CHAMPIONS 2016
NEWS
HOME
DRIVERS TEAM
Francisco Mora
by Pedro Gil de Vasconcelos
Francisco Mora was crowned as the
first ever champion for TCR
Portugal at the end of a
breathtaking season. Although the
number of competitors for this first
season was always limited to eight,
competition on the track was very
close, with four different brands
represented (Honda, SEAT,
Volkswagen and Opel) plus a few
visits from drivers and teams from
abroad.
The fight for the title went down to
the wire and was only decided after
the finale at Estoril, where Mora
won three of the weekend’s four
races in his his Veloso Motorsport
SEAT León and clinched the title,
also benefiting from the incident
that eliminated his teammates and
closest rivals Francisco Carvalho
and Nuno Batista.
"It was a close call. I knew that it
was going to be tough despite the
fact I had arrived at Estoril as the
leader of the classification, albeit
with a very slim margin. I stayed
focused to take good starts and
avoid mistakes, but the last races
were extremely close. Manuel Gião
was chasing me for the whole of the
third race, while José Rodrigues put
me under a lot of pressure in the
early stages of the fourth.
Eventually he was slowed down by a
technical issue and I was able to
relax a bit
,” Mora said after the
season finale.
After a difficult start to the
season, Mora took the lead in the
standings in the last-but-one
event.
“
I was happy to become the
championship leader at Jerez. We
knew that was a crucial moment
and we did our very best to take the