Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing aim to build on winning Kumho FIA TCR World Tour weekends in Spain and Italy

Having triumphed on Monza’s long straights and challenging chicanes, BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse, Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing’s long-term partner team, will take on a street circuit with a difference this weekend (July 4-6).

The Circuito Internacional de Vila Real in northern Portugal is as iconic as it is undulating. The venue is preparing to host the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour for the first time with Mikel Azcona, Néstor Girolami and Norbert Michelisz all set to take on the demanding hillside track in their Hyundai Elantra N TCR.

Host for round four of the eight-event series, Vila Real is a town-based track like no other. Nicknamed the Nürburgring Nordschleife of the South due its mix of fast and low-speed corners, climbs and descents and narrow stretches, Vila Real staged its first race in 1931 on a 7.1-kilometre course.

While the lap now measures 4.6 kilometres in length, the challenge and spectacle remain unaltered with speeds exceeding 200kph on the final downhill section.

Vila Real is familiar territory for Azcona, Girolami and Michelisz following their previous outings in both the FIA World Touring Car Championship and WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup. Azcona and Michelisz were both winners in 2019, while Girolami claimed a podium in 2022.

BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse will arrive in Vila Real on the back of winning races during successive weekends in Spain and Italy. Girolami finished first in Valencia’s Race 2, while Michelisz was the driver to beat in the Monza opener.

The results have helped to boost Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing’s hopes of more Kumho FIA TCR World Tour silverware, while also highlighting the performance of the Hyundai Elantra N TCR against strong competition.

Michelisz’s pole position, victory and fourth place in Monza earlier this month means the Hungarian will carry an additional 40 kilograms of Compensation Weight – the maximum possible – for the Vila Real event in accordance with the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour regulations. Argentine Girolami, meanwhile, will be saddled with 30 kilograms of Compensation Weight.

Two races make up the Vila Real weekend with the opening contest due to get under way at 12:00 local time followed by Race 2 from 17:05. The grid for Race 1 is based on the final results of Qualifying with the Race 2 grid formed according to the final Qualifying results, albeit with the top 10 positions reversed.

Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing Manager Benoît Nogier said:

“As the final event of the short European season ahead of the Australian and Asian leg of the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour, Vila Real marks another opportunity to build on recent strong performances and score more crucial points. It’s also an opportunity to showcase the performance of the Hyundai Elantra N TCR on a demanding and rather unique street circuit. But with Norbert Michelisz carrying the maximum 40 kilograms of Compensation Weight and Néstor Girolami carrying 30 kilograms of additional weight, it’s not going to be an easy weekend for at least two of our three drivers. It helps, therefore, that Vila Real is a known quantity for all our drivers and BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse. It’s also a track where the team, Norbert and Mikel Azcona have won in the past.”

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

• Scored breakthrough WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup victory on the streets of Vila Real in 2019
• After a run of bad luck, the Spaniard is overdue a change of fortune in Portugal
• Recent street circuit form includes a third place in Macau last November

Azcona said: “It’s a track that I really like and always had very good memories from, it being the circuit where I took my first victory in my world championship career back in 2019. Generally I love the street tracks but Vila Real is a particular one where, since the beginning, I felt very confident in the high-speed and low-speed sections. I feel good and confident going to Vila Real, especially now after changing the engine in Monza where I felt a deficit in performance. Now it’s positive and I feel I can perform in similar conditions to my team-mates. This also gives me good motivation to fight for good things in Vila Real and to try to take the Race 1 victory. That’s the target and I feel confident in my Hyundai Elantra N TCR. I’m looking forward to it.”

Driver Notes: #129 Néstor Girolami (ARG), Hyundai Elantra N TCR

• Second FIA World Touring Car Championship appearance was at Vila Real in 2015
• Claimed a WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup podium there seven years later
• Will head to Portugal having narrowly missed out on victory in the second Monza race

Girolami said: “It’s always very nice to arrive in Vila Real, the atmosphere is amazing. I made my debut there in 2015 and I remember that it was a big challenge. You need to find a compromise because even though it’s very narrow it’s still very fast in some corners but you also have very slow corners so you need to jump over the kerbs to set the car for the fast sections. It’s everything about pulling the lap together in qualifying because there are not many possibilities to overtake so it’s also about the start and the first corners. But you must remain very focused because there is no room for mistakes. My main goal is to be in the top three and score points in both races in my Hyundai Elantra N TCR. We still need to recover some points and reduce the gap to the leaders so we will do our best to perform and keep it in the right window like we were for the last two weekends in Valencia and Monza. After winning in Valencia and scoring good points in Monza with a second position in Race 2 we arrive very motivated to make a good weekend in Vila Real.”

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

• Won at Vila Real in 2019 on route to claiming the WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup title that year
• Triumphed in Race 1 from pole position at Monza for his first victory of the 2025 season
• Faces prospect of carrying maximum 40 kilograms of Compensation Weight during Portuguese weekend

Michelisz said: “Vila Real is always a race I look forward to. My first race there was in 2015 in the WTCC and I remember for the first couple of laps I was a bit frightened because the circuit is so difficult and so challenging that you really need to be careful in building your rhythm. I have enjoyed a lot of success in Vila Real, I just enjoy the rhythm of a lap with all the different corners. You have slow corners where you need to ride the kerbs, you have the fast corners with a very high top speed before entering the last sector. From a drivers’ point of view, it’s very difficult to put a lap together and then survive a race distance by pushing to the limits. But, also from a technical point of view, it’s very tricky to have a good set-up because you have all the different kinds of corners. It’s very important to have the right confidence in my Hyundai Elantra N TCR. I don’t expect a very easy race because of the Compensation Weight and also because of the heat we can expect. But I feel we have made really good progress since the start of the season and I’m quite confident. I would like to score a lot of points and I have the feeling we can be competitive even though we will carry some additional weight.”

Weekend at a Glance

• Free Practice 1 provides the first track action for the BRC Hyundai Squadra Corse drivers with the 30-minute session due to begin at 09:30 local time on Saturday July 5. Free Practice 2, also scheduled for 30 minutes, follows from 12:40.
• Qualifying Q1 is due to start at 16:40 for 30 minutes, while the 15-minute Qualifying Q2 begins at 17:20.
• Sunday’s opening race is scheduled to start at 12:00 and run for a maximum of 16 laps. Race 2 brings the curtain down on the Vila Real weekend at 17:05.