Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing will be represented by an unchanged driver line-up

Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing will be represented by an unchanged team and driver line-up for this season’s Kumho FIA TCR World Tour, fielding three Hyundai Elantra N TCR cars under the BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse banner.

Following a successful 2024, which ended with Norbert Michelisz clinching a second consecutive drivers’ crown on the streets of Macau, the decision was taken to leave the basis of the team untouched. As a result, Michelisz will once again be joined by 2022 FIA WTCR – World Touring Car Cup winner Mikel Azcona and Néstor Girolami in the team.

All three drivers scored victories during 2024, including Michelisz and Girolami’s sweep of the campaign’s opening weekend. The teamwork between the trio played a critical part in supporting Michelisz’s pursuit of the 2024 title, illustrated perfectly by the formation finish to the final race of the season. Equally important was the role played by the BRC Racing Team management, led by Team Principal Gabriele Rizzo and Team Manager Gabriele Tarquini, who will fill the same roles for the coming season.

Also unchanged is the highly successful Hyundai Elantra N TCR, featuring the new design bodywork introduced ahead of the 2024 season to reflect the latest facelift to the road-going Elantra N. The car has proven to be one of the benchmarks in the TCR category, scoring back-to-back championships with drivers in TCR China, TCR Australia and TCR Eastern Europe in 2023 and 2024, alongside Michelisz’s two titles.

However, while BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse, their drivers and cars remain unchanged, they will face several new challenges this season. Of the eight rounds on the calendar, there are just two returns to venues from 2024 – the Zhuzhou International Circuit in China, and the season finale, and likely title decider, in Macau.

In contrast, there are first-time visits for the series to Mexico, Spain and South Korea – for the first international Touring Car event in Hyundai Motor Company’s home country. The FIA TCR World Tour will return to Australia and Portugal after skipping both in 2024. In Europe the series will return top-level Touring Car racing to the Vila Real street circuit, while the Australian weekend at The Bend Motorsport Park the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour share the paddock with both TCR Australia and the Supercars series.

Regardless of venue, the quality and competitiveness of the racing will be the same. The 14 races of the 2024 season delivered eight different winners from three different manufacturers, and a final weekend that began with seven drivers still in title contention. The mix of more experience for returning teams and drivers and new challenges for the entire grid guarantee another exciting season.

Norbert Michelisz said: “I’m very grateful to Hyundai Motorsport and BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse to be ready for another season. The past eight years have been some of the most successful of my career and I’m in the same position now as I was in 2024 as the defending champion. For the last few years I have been very relaxed before the start of the season, and I think that has helped. In pre-season testing we’ve solved some open topics from last year. It’s the fifth year with the Hyundai Elantra N TCR, but we still identified some areas where we could improve, and I think we made good steps. We need to keep working because we have some tracks this year that will have a narrow window for set-up we need to find quickly.”

Mikel Azcona said: “If you look at the last four years, BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse have won everything, but every year we start from zero again. My goal is the same since I joined Hyundai Motorsport. From the beginning, my aim was to win the championship, and we managed to do it in the first year, which was very, very surprising. I feel in a better shape now than last year. I want to use the opportunity of the first rounds and try to be competitive and go for the Drivers’ Championship and Manufacturers’ Championship. If I am not in position for the title, then I will help my team-mates and work for the team.”

Néstor Girolami said: “I really hope that together with BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse, my teammates and Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing, we put together a strong season again and we are able to celebrate at the end of the season. I learned many things last year and I have more confidence going into this season. This will help me to perform better to have a better pace, especially in qualifying because it is everything because it’s so difficult to overtake in the races. Some tracks are more complicated, but in general if you are not performing in qualifying then it’s very difficult to turn around the weekend. My focus is to be on the top of my game from the beginning of the season, try to be competitive to be in a position to fight for the championship.”

Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing Manager Benoit Nogier said: “As soon we knew that we could keep the same driver line-up with Norbert, Mikel and Néstor, then that was our aim. They worked excellently together with each other and the team, which was vital in helping Norbert win the title in Macau. Our aim with BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse for 2025 is very straight forward. We want to win both titles. With Norbert we have won the Drivers’ Championship for the last two seasons but come agonisingly close to the second title in both years. We have all the right pieces for the puzzle – a strong car in the Hyundai Elantra N TCR, a good team and three fast drivers – to take both titles, so that has to be our target.”