The GTI TCR has just successfully completed the official TCR comparison tests in Valencia. Prior to this, the first five of 20 cars were delivered to two customers.
The cars were then put through their paces during two days of testing at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo. Engstler Motorsport from Germany and the W-Racing Team from Belgium, who line up in the TCR International Series in 2016, took to the racetrack for the first time with the new 330-hp touring car.
As well as familiarising themselves with the new car, the test programme also included the obligatory Balance-of-Performance test (BOP). This meant performance tests on the test stand, car measurements to determine the car’s centre of gravity, acceleration and deceleration tests with varying amounts of ballast and an official TCR driver at the wheel.
The data gathered in the BOP is analysed and used to achieve a similar level of performance between the cars of different manufacturers, thus ensuring everyone has the same chance of winning. However, this task proved far from easy for the powers that be: heavy rain in Valencia repeatedly disrupted the two test days.
In total, eight customer sports teams will field the Golf GTI TCR in 2016: Engstler Motorsport, Kai Jordan, D&T Drive & Training (all Germany), W-Racing Team, Gtps Delahaye Racing Team (both Belgium), Milo Racing (Luxembourg), Gusto Technik Performance (Hong Kong) and Novaplus Gestão Desportiva (Portugal).
The racing Golf will start in five TCR championships: in the international series, the Benelux and Asia series as well as in the German and Portuguese championships.
