TCR: Yerly and Danz lead the success list
SWISS BALANCE 2019 A list of all TCR races in 2019 and all drivers reveals interesting figures. The most successful Swiss drivers were VLN champion Frédéric Yerly and 24H Series champion Fabian Danz. According to license holder and promoter WSC, 312 TCR-sanctioned races were held worldwide last year in 31 different series in 27 countries. In 2018, there were 243 rounds in 26 race series. Wolf-Power [...]
According to license holder and promoter WSC, 312 TCR-sanctioned races were held worldwide last year in 31 different series in 27 countries. In 2018, there were 243 rounds in 26 race series.
Wolf power wins on two fronts
TCR Europe had the largest turnout with an average of 30.7 cars, an increase of 18 percent. Swiss drivers were not on the grid here. In 2018, Kris Richard and Stefano Comini, who won the TCR International Series, the forerunner of today's WTCR (without him), in 2015 and 2016, still shone here.
After all, Wolf-Power Racing (Alex Morgan on Cupra TCR), a team from Switzerland, once won in the European series. As technical partners, the Schwyz-based company was also involved in Autorama Motorsport's successes in the 24H Series.
A German ahead
743 drivers from 55 nations started to at least one TCR race, 184 climbed on the podium as winners. With 15 victories spread across TCR Asia, Malaysia, Europe and China, Germany's Luca Engstler was the most successful of them all. The busiest competitor was Dutch jack-of-all-trades Tom Coronel (he just raced in the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia) with 43 starts in WTCR, TCR Europe and endurance races.
18 TCR starts from Julien Apothéloz
According to the list of participants we analyzed (and corrected), a total of 25 Swiss tackled TCR races. With 14 starts in the ADAC TCR Germany, three in the 24H Series and one at the Spa TCR500, Julien Apothéloz was the busiest. With a triumph with Topcar Sport at the Barcelona 24 Hours and a podium, as well as second overall in the rookie classification in the German series, the Young Driver of 2018 was also doing pretty well.
Stronghold Nürburgring
All TCR victories go to the account of endurance drivers. With five first places on the Cupra TCR in the VLN Nürburgring and winning the 2019 class winners' trophy, Frédéric Yerly was the most successful Swiss TCR driver ever in 2019. Three times Roland Schmid took turns at the wheel of the winning Cupra TCR with the man from Fribourg and the German Mathias Wasel. A 100 percent success rate for the man from Basel.
Luck and bad luck for Fabian Danz
Fabian Danz was similarly successful in the 24H Series. Danz first won three times with the VW Golf from Autorama and then once again with the Cupra from Topcar Sport. With four class victories, the man from Bern captured the drivers' title in the European 24H TCE Series. He only missed out on the intercontinental title due to a defect in the final race in Texas.
Happy ending for Swiss duo
But Yannick Mettler and Jérôme Ogay were jubilant in the end. In four starts in the Autorama Golf, they were part of the class-winning team twice (at the Dubai 24 Hours and Portimao) and snatched the second crown away from Danz thanks to their better placing in the USA. Autorama Motorsport by Wolf-Power Racing also took both titles in the team standings.
Twice, Autorama team leader Stefan Tanner himself was among the winning drivers. And in Portugal, Ralf Henggeler celebrated his greatest success to date with the team from Wetzikon.
Fast Jasmin Preisig...
It was nice that two Swiss women also shone with TCR cars. Jasmin Preisig switched from the ADAC TCR Germany to the VLN. A smart decision, which was also helped by her new partnership with Volkswagen Switzerland (brand ambassador). With a Golf from Max Kruse Racing, she came within a hair's breadth of winning her class at the final race in October.
... and talented Karen Gaillard
Last but not least, Karen Gaillard even wrote a piece of Swiss motorsport history. She qualified for a German TCR race weekend in the 2019 Young Driver Challenge alongside Mario Anderegg and James Bischof. The 17-year-old from Fribourg made the most of her opportunity and advanced to seventh place in the race at the Nürburgring, which was cancelled due to rain.
She also convinced the jury on other points and was crowned Young Driver 2019 at the end of the season. Karen is now investing the sponsorship money from the talent competition, which will no longer be held in 2020, in endurance racing on a Cupra TCR.
So it's quite possible that this year's Swiss TCR winners' list will see some charming additions.
