Confirmed as third driver for the 2024 Kumho FIA TCR World Tour season
Néstor Girolami has joined Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing for 2024, adding a third driver to the highly successful BRC Hyundai N Squad Corse line-up for the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour season.
The 34-year-old will drive a Hyundai Elantra N TCR in the series, which is set to begin at Vallelunga in Italy on April 19-21. The event will mark the Argentine’s competitive debut in a Hyundai Motorsport-built car but will be just the next step for his successful career in the TCR category.
Girolami has been a fixture at the top level of international TCR competition since joining the FIA WTCR – World Touring Car Cup grid for the 2019 season. Across the following four years he claimed seven race wins and a total of 16 podiums, while scoring a personal best second in the championship in 2022. His strong record continued into the first-ever season of the TCR World Tour, where he finished sixth in the final championship standings after scoring a victory and four other podiums.
Girolami is set to make his first laps with the Elantra N TCR in the coming days during testing with the team in preparation for the opening round of the FIA TCR World Tour.
He will join the unchanged driver pairing of Norbert Michelisz and Mikel Azcona at the Cherasco-based team. The 2023 campaign ended on a high for the squad as Michelisz was crowned champion following a dramatic finale weekend on the Macau Guia Circuit. The title was the squad’s fifth since 2018, after previously guiding Gabriele Tarquini, Michelisz and Azcona to a WTCR title a piece, and clinching the teams’ title in 2022.
The decision to a three-car team for the 2024 season renews the squad’s challenge for the teams’ title in 2024, having only competed with two drivers last year against outfits fielding as many as four entries for each event.
Néstor Girolami said: “I am extremely happy to be joining Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing and BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse for the 2024 Kumho FIA TCR World Tour season. Moving to a new manufacturer and a new team is a fresh challenge in my career, but one I am very excited about. Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing and the team have had huge success in previous seasons, so there is some pressure, but I feel I will be able to fit straight into the team, and immediately compete for victories. The aim, of course, is to win the FIA TCR World Tour drivers’ title and be part of the push for the teams’ title together with Norbi and Mikel. I’m very thankful for the trust which Hyundai Motorsport and BRC Racing Team have shown to ask me to be part of their team this season. I can’t wait to start working together to get ready for Vallelunga.”
Hyundai Motorsport Circuit Racing Project Manager Julien Moncet said: “We’re delighted to have Néstor join as part of Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing for the new Kumho FIA TCR World Tour season. His record and experience in TCR competition put him at the top of our list to increase our involvement in the series, and we know he will fit perfectly into the BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse team alongside Norbi and Mikel. The aim this year is to renew our challenge to win both the drivers’ and teams’ standings. We knew Norbi and Mikel are very capable of taking the individual crown, but the addition of Néstor gives us a third driver with talent to win the series, but also completes a superb team line-up to push for the title double again.”
