Preview: Round 5 – Inje, South Korea

Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing is heading home in the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour and aiming to remain firmly in contention for the Drivers’ and Teams’ titles when the series resumes at Inje Speedium in South Korea this weekend (October 1-4).

With four rounds run, long-term partner team BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse is chasing down first place in the Teams’ standings, while Mikel Azcona is second in the Drivers’ ranking, 10 points off the lead and one place ahead of team-mate Norbert Michelisz. 

During a strong start to the 2026 Kumho FIA TCR World Tour, Azcona has qualified on pole position three times, claimed a race victory and finished either second or third on four occasions. Michelisz, meanwhile, is a two-time winner and has also banked two third places. The challenge for Italy-based BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse, Spaniard Azcona and Hungarian Michelisz is to maintain its impressive form into the second half of the season.

It’s been more than two months since Michelisz triumphed in the second of two races at Vila Real in Portugal to signal the start of the summer break. While there has been some time for rest and recuperation, the hard work required to remain at the front in the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour continued. 

As well as behind-the-scenes preparation, detailed data analysis sessions and technical briefings, BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse completed a short test in Italy earlier this month. This was organised partly to implement initial set-up solutions for the upcoming Inje Speedium event, but also to allow Azcona and Michelisz to get back into the rhythm of driving the Hyundai Elantra N TCR to its maximum potential.

While Azcona will compete with 10 kilograms of Compensation Weight in South Korea, Michelisz will race in round five of the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour saddled by an additional 30 kilograms due to the fact he scored more points at Vila Real than his team-mate. 

Located in the Kangwon-do region 160 kilometres northeast of the capital Seoul, Inje Speedium hosted the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour for the first time last season with wins for Azcona and Josh Buchan from the HMO Customer Racing outfit. The track measures 3.908 kilometres in length and features 20 corners. It’s characterised by its long main straight, undulating nature and combination of high- and low-speed turns. 

The Inje Speedium weekend is the first of four Kumho FIA TCR World Tour events in Asia. Following the trip to South Korea, the series travels to China for back-to-back race weekends before finishing the season at the Macau Grand Prix weekend taking place from November 19-22.

As a Format 3 event, three races of 30 minutes plus one lap have been scheduled. Qualifying is split into two parts, Q1 and Q2, with the fastest 12 drivers progressing to Q2. The qualifying results will be used to determine the starting grid for Race 1 and Race 2, although the top 10 positions for Race 2 will be in reverse of the Q2 order, while the driver setting the fastest lap in Race 1 will be promoted one position. The Race 3 grid is decided by calculating the points scored in Qualifying, Race 1 and Race 2. 

Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing Manager Benoît Nogier said:

After a long summer break, it’s great to be back racing again. Thanks to the efforts of BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse, Mikel, Norbi and everyone at Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing, we have made a very strong start to the season, winning three times and challenging for both the Drivers’ and Teams’ titles. But we are only at the halfway point with a very challenging and intense four events in Asia in store. However, the focus and determination to succeed hasn’t changed and we head to our home event at Inje Speedium excited for the task in front of us and ready to do all we give something for the watching Hyundai fans to celebrate. After all, their support is so important to us.

Driver Notes: #196 Mikel Azcona (ESP), Hyundai Elantra N TCR

• After four rounds, the Spaniard is second in the Drivers’ standings, 10 points adrift of first place
• His Inje victory in 2025 has provided even more impetus for success during Hyundai’s home race
• With three pole positions out of four in 2026, Azcona’s form over one lap has further underlined the performance of the Hyundai Elantra N TCR

Azcona said: “After a very positive first part of the season, fighting for the top position in the championship and fighting also for victories, I approach the second half of the season very motivated. Following such a successful visit last year, winning during the home race weekend of Hyundai, I’m really happy to go back to South Korea. I go there with 10 kilos of Compensation Weight, which is not bad as my rivals will carry more kilos than me. It’s a weekend where we have to be aiming for the top positions. We have the experience and the info from last year that we can be back fighting for the victory, which is our target, especially driving for Hyundai in South Korea. I had a good summer break to prepare myself to be back stronger and better.”

Driver Notes: #105 Norbert Michelisz (HUN), Hyundai Elantra N TCR

• Michelisz heads to Inje Speedium on a high following his Race 2 victory last time out in Vila Real
  The result, his second first-place finish of 2026, has put him third in the current standings, 32 points behind the leader
• While team-mate Azcona will carry 10 kilograms of Compensation Weight in his Hyundai Elantra N TCR, Hungarian Michelisz will have 30 kilograms fitted 

 Michelisz said: “The summer break has been too long, and I was missing the racing. Fortunately, we did a small test the other week. It was nice to be back behind the wheel and it was helping me and Mikel to get up to speed before the most important race of the season. I’m really excited before South Korea. It’s our home race so of course we want to perform at our peak, especially because last year we were struggling a bit. Okay, we were carrying Compensation Weight, but this will be again the case for myself, so I am really focused on delivering a good result, and also to score as many points as possible for the championship. Now we are entering the second part of the season, it’s even more important to focus on getting the most out of the race weekend. This will be even more the case for Inje. We want to deliver results for the team and for Hyundai as well. I’m really looking forward to the event, I love the circuit and I hope we will meet again the many fans who were there last year.”

Weekend at a Glance

• The Inje Speedium weekend begins with a 30-minute Shakedown at 16:00 local time on Thursday 1 October ahead of Free Practice 1 at 13:35 and Free Practice 2 at 17:00 on Friday 2 October with both sessions running for 30 minutes.
• Qualifying Q1 is due to start at 10:10 on Saturday 3 October for 20 minutes ahead of Qualifying Q2 following from 10:35 for 10 minutes. Race 1 is set to get under way at 15:30 for a duration of 30 minutes plus one lap.
• Race 2 and 3 on Sunday 4 October are also scheduled for 30 minutes plus one lap. Race 2 is timetabled at 10:40 with Race 3 following at 16:20.