The events on the Guia Circuit will decide the champions in not only TCR World Tour, but TCR China and TCR Asia

This weekend’s Kumho FIA TCR World Tour races form the dramatic season finale for three TCR series. As well as the TCR World Tour, where BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse driver Norbert Michelisz holds a 10-point advantage, the two contests on the formidable street circuit will also decide the champions in TCR China and TCR Asia, where Hyundai Motorsport customers are also in strong positions.

The TCR World Tour drama in Macau will play out across a grid of more than 30 cars. Among them are 12 Hyundai, including front-runners in all three series.

All three BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse drivers have won a race this year, with Girolami winning in only his second start in an Elantra N TCR at Vallelunga in April, while Azcona triumphed in an exciting Race 1 at the penultimate round in China that ended with drivers racing on slick tyres in heavy rain. While defending champion Michelisz, who has two wins this season, leads into the weekend, all the team’s drivers are still mathematically capable of lifting the title with 75 points available from a combination of qualifying and the two races.

In TCR China, too, an Elantra N TCR driver is the defending champion, and he can retain his title with a strong weekend in Macau. After a double podium at the previous round in Zhuzhou, Hyundai N driver Martin Cao sits only a single point behind the championship leader before the season finale.

Also among the entry at Macau are Hyundai by Z.Speed drivers Zhang Zhen Dong, Max Hart and Doyun Hwang. The trio have been dominant team in TCR Asia this year, winning seven of the eight races held so far and sitting 1-2-3 in the standings with just 16 points behind Zhang and Hart, who won Race 2 of TCR China at Macau last year.

Titles in these series this weekend would add to what is already highly successful season for Elantra N TCR customers.

Josh Buchan became the first two-time TCR Australia champion after a sensational season. The HMO Customer Racing driver finished on the podium at least once at every round. Twice he took his Elantra N TCR to top-three finishes in every race of a weekend. Having built a lead going into the finale at the famed Mount Panorama circuit in Bathurst he, despite carrying the maximum 40kg Compensation Weight, protected his lead to lift the trophy once more.

Also crowned drivers’ champion for a second time this year is Maťo Homola. The Slovakian clinched the title at the end of a TCR Eastern European season dominated by Hyundai Motorsport customers. Drivers with cars built in Alzenau won all 12 races during the season. Homola was victorious five times but beat his Janík Motorsport team-mate Adam Kout – who scored four wins – by just five points at the end of year as the squad clinched the teams’ title for the third consecutive time.

Elantra N TCR teams have also achieved success in TCR Italy – where British driver Alex Ley won on his debut weekend in the series. Later in the year he was joined as a race winner in the championship by South Koreans Junesung Park and Junui Park, who became regular podium visitors in their second year racing the Elantra N TCR.

In the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, the Hyundai Motor America-supported Bryan Herta Autosport squad helped Hyundai clinch the Manufacturer’s title for the fifth consecutive season. However, despite scoring four wins and an impressive total of 16 podiums during the 12-event season, the team could not extend their streak of drivers’ titles into a sixth season. The best placed of the crews – Mason Filippi and Mark Wilkins – finishing second in the standings.

Filippi and Wilkins, together with fellow Bryan Herta Autosport drivers Harry Gottsacker and Bryson Morris, did, however, taste success at the Nürburgring 24 Hours. The quartet shared one of three Elantra N TCR in the race – the other entries representing defending class winners Team Europe and N24 newcomers Team China. After a frustratingly curtailed race it was the North Americans that led home a 1-2-3 for Hyundai Motorsport in the TCR category of the famous race, making it four consecutive years that the Elantra N TCR has won the class at the famous race.

Hyundai Motorsport Circuit Racing Manager Julien Moncet said:

“2024 has been another incredible year for our Elantra N TCR customers. Clearly this weekend in Macau will be critical for our customers in TCR World Tour, TCR China and TCR Asia – with all three championships to be decided on the street circuit, which I’m sure will create some exciting moments. However, no matter what happens, we and our customers can consider this season to have been successful. As well as the results in the series racing this weekend, our customers have already claimed titles in TCR Australia and TCR Eastern Europe, where Elantra N TCR drivers won for the second straight year, and in IMSA competition and the Nürburgring 24 Hours, where Bryan Herta Autosport’s work with Hyundai Motor America has led to more success this year.”