Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing drivers dominated proceedings with victory in both Kumho FIA TCR World Tour races

Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing marked the resumption of the 2025 Kumho FIA TCR World Tour season by claiming a sensational 1-2 in the opening race at The Bend Motorsport Park in Australia, before making it two wins out of two in the second contest to complete a dominant weekend for BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse.

Norbert Michelisz, the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour title winner in 2024, drove his Hyundai Elantra N TCR to victory in Race 1, with Néstor Girolami completing a memorable first visit to the Adelaide venue for the long-standing Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing team by coming out on top in Race 2.

Mikel Azcona had crossed the finish line in Race 1 in first position only for a five-second penalty following an unfortunate jump start to hand victory to team-mate Michelisz by a slender 0.003s. Girolami made it three BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse drivers in the top 10 in 10^th place to line up on the front row for Race 2.

From second position on the grid, the Argentine pulled off a stunning overtaking move around the outside of the first corner for a lead he wouldn’t relinquish as Michelisz and Azcona converted their respective starting positions of ninth and 10^th for more crucial Kumho FIA TCR World Tour points.

Michelisz and Girolami are now two-time winners in the 2025 Kumho FIA TCR World Tour, while BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse’s third and fourth victories of the season have elevated it to second place in the Teams’ standings. Michelisz climbs from sixth to fifth in the Drivers’ table with Girolami moving up from eighth to sixth. Azcona holds 10^th place.

The results were fitting reward for the BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse team members after they worked through Friday night to get ready for the start of the weekend, which ran to a revised timetable featuring two races rather than the scheduled three. Delays at sea meant all Kumho FIA TCR World Tour cars and equipment arrived in Australia five days later than planned and resulted in team members forgoing sleep while they unloaded the freight containers to ensure cars were on track for the start of Free Practice at 07h15 local time on Saturday.

Driving a Hyundai Elantra N TCR for HMO Customer Racing, Australian Josh Buchan impressed by finishing fourth and fifth in the two races – the highest TCR Australia competitor on both occasions. His team-mate Ryan MacMillan finished 15^th in Race 1 and 12^th in Race 2.

It’s South Korea next for the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour with Inje Speedium making its long-awaited and eagerly anticipated debut on the international touring car stage from October 17-19.

Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing Manager Benoît Nogier said:

“Firstly, it’s important to praise and acknowledge the hard work and commitment from the BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse team onsite in Australia. Due to the late arrival of the cars and equipment following delays to the shipping schedule, they were super-human as they worked almost non-stop to be ready for the start of Free Practice. Even with track time compromised and the timetable very condensed and intense, they were faultless and the results from the weekend are for them, just as they are for Mikel, Néstor and Norbi, who were brilliant behind the wheel of their Hyundai Elantra N TCR cars from start to finish. Taking a 1-2 in Race 1 from pole position and winning Race 2 was an incredible achievement and we must not forget the work behind the scenes from the Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing staff at Offenbach for their efforts during the summer. It’s our home race next and, while we’ll have to carry Compensation Weight, we can’t wait to put on a strong showing for the Korean fans.”

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

• Charged to first pole position of the season with impressive qualifying performance
• Led Race 1 from start to finish only for five-second time penalty to drop him back to second
• Started and finished Race 2 in 10^th after briefly moving ahead of Michelisz before ceding the position on the final lap after attempts to make up places during late-race battle proved to be in vain

Azcona said: “I was so happy to get the pole position for the first race and so happy for the team. After the shipping delays we had to wake up at 04:30 for Free Practice at 07:15 and the track conditions were super, super tricky, very slippery with a temperature of seven degrees. But my Hyundai Elantra N TCR was amazing, I was so confident, especially in sector two where you really needed to have a good balance on the car, so thank you to the team because they did a really amazing job to put a proper set-up on the car. It was a really good lap from my side with no mistakes, but I was a bit disappointed with the jump start I had. It was so long waiting for the lights to go out, the clutch was gripping and gripping and, unfortunately, the car moved a few centimetres, and I got a five-second penalty. Again, the car was brilliant in the race, and I was able to push and secure the second position. I was very happy for Norbert in P1 and thanks to the team for the hard job they did. They really deserved this 1-2 result. Race 2 was challenging to be honest with many cars around me and very difficult to drive in dirty air. I had really good pace at the beginning, I tried to attack Ma in front of me. That was quite fun, we were three laps fighting each other, side-by-side. But in this track, it’s very difficult to make a move and I give back the position to Norbi who was behind me, so starting P10 and finishing P10. I’m so motivated for Korea.”

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

• Qualifying strategy focused on securing front-row start for Race 2, which he achieved in ninth place
• After completing the Race 1 top 10, the Argentine’s stunning first-corner pass was key to his victory in the second race of the weekend
• With two wins so far in 2025, Girolami heads to Inje Speedium next month up to sixth in the standings

Girolami said: “We had a good pace in qualifying and the car felt very good. We played the team game to go for the front row for the reverse grid and the strategy worked perfectly. Race 1 was quite chaotic in front of me with a lot of action. We didn’t get the opportunities to make up any places, the important thing was to keep the car alive for Race 2 and push to the maximum to get the victory. It was an amazing result, the second victory of the weekend for the team and I’m very happy for them after a tough weekend with only a few hours of sleep. They had a lot of work to do but this result is the pay-off. I’m also very happy for Hyundai. We worked a lot, and we deserve this result. I am really looking forward to Korea, our home race and I hope we can get a good result there and celebrate with all the fans.”

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

• Just did enough, by 0.003s, to claim the Race 1 laurels ahead of penalised team-mate Azcona
• The Hungarian’s victory was his second of the 2025 Kumho TCR World Tour and puts him fifth in the title table with three race weekends remaining
• Finished Race 2 from where he started in ninth place

Michelisz said: “Qualifying went very well for us, I finished P2 and was very happy about that, especially because the boys were working all night, so they really deserved it. The car felt good, I did a good lap and then I won Race 1. Starting from P2 the target was to have a good start, and I managed to do that. I was slotting in behind Mikel who unfortunately picked up a penalty for a jumped start. I was following him, trying to do my best to push as much as I could. In the end finishing on top, especially on a circuit like this, is just an amazing feeling. The mechanics did an amazing job preparing the cars, unloading the containers, doing a perfect job in this short amount of time. I’m so proud to be part of this team and I’m very happy to score this race win and this amount of points. Although we are far behind in the championship, we really need to be able to maximise every possibility and Saturday was a day when we did that so we can be proud of ourselves. Néstor won Race 2, a dream result. It was an eventful race, I tried to do my best with Mikel to gain some places, but the other cars were a bit too strong for us this time. Nevertheless, a lot of important points, I scored the most points this weekend, which is a very good achievement considering there are a lot of races to go. I really hope we can keep this momentum.”