Néstor Girolami and Norbert Michelisz boosted by not having to carry Compensation Weight

Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing heads to the Zhuzhou International Circuit in China this weekend (October 31-November 2) for the penultimate stop of the 2025 Kumho FIA TCR World Tour on a high following its victorious homecoming earlier this month.

Wins for Mikel Azcona (BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse) and Josh Buchan (HMO Customer Racing) at the Inje Speedium were fitting results as South Korea, the home of Hyundai, hosted its long awaited first FIA international touring car event.

However, while the victories pointed to a successful weekend for BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse, on-track performance was not as intended, which has resulted in Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing’s long-term partner team redoubling its efforts to be even more competitive in China, where Azcona took the honours in a dramatic Race 1 of changing weather conditions twelve months ago.

As well as competing on home soil for the first time, Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing used the Inje event to unleash its newly homologated Elantra N EV TCR, which features an updated turbo. After winning the second race of the weekend in South Korea, Azcona took fourth place in Race 3, as team-mates Néstor Girolami and Norbert Michelisz completed multiple overtakes in Race 2 – climbing seven and three places respectively – as the potential of the updated car was highlighted.

Having been saddled with 40 kilograms of Compensation Weight in South Korea following his victory during the preceding event in Australia, like Girolami, Michelisz will compete without additional weight in China. However, by scoring the fourth highest amount of points out of the full-season drivers at the Inje Speedium, Azcona will carry 20 kilograms of Compensation Weight in accordance with the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour regulations.

Although its three long straights and a downhill braking point at Turn 3 are expected to provide overtaking opportunities, the stop-start nature of the Zhuzhou International Circuit layout, with its 14 corners, is set to hinder cars carrying Compensation Weight, which could potentially put Azcona at a disadvantage compared to some of his rivals.

While Inje Speedium represented unchartered territory for the BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse drivers in competition mode, all three have experience of the 3.774-kilometre Zhuzhou International Circuit, located in central China. When the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour visited last October, Azcona won the rain-hit opening race, Girolami finished runner-up in Race 2 as Michelisz maintained his title advantage by scoring points in both races.

China’s Kumho FIA TCR World Tour event is the fourth in 2025 to run to a three-race format. As such, the grid for Race 1 is based on the final results of Qualifying, with the top 10 finishers from Race 1 then lining up for Race 2 in reverse order. The Race 3 grid is based on the total points scored in Qualifying, Race 1 and Race 2. Race 1 is scheduled on Saturday November 1 with Races 2 and 3 timetabled on Sunday November 2.

HMO Customer Racing will bolster the Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing ranks for the third Kumho FIA TCR World Tour event in a row following impressive showings in Australia and South Korea, where Josh Buchan took a maiden race victory. However, with Buchan unable to race in China due to a clashing commitment, HMO Customer Racing has recruited Will Brown, who won the inaugural TCR Australia title with the team in 2019 driving a Hyundai i30 N TCR. It will be the reigning Australian Supercars champion’s debut in an Elantra N TCR. Ryan MacMillan will pilot a second Elantra N TCR for HMO Customer Racing, while Buchan is set to return to the squad for the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour Macau season finale next month (November 13-16).

Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing Manager Benoît Nogier said:

“The two wins we celebrated on home soil in South Korea earlier this month were great achievements but didn’t paint the whole picture. After a very strong weekend in Australia, we expected much more performance, but it proved difficult to adapt the set-up that worked well at other circuits to Inje. There has been plenty of hard work behind the scenes to determine what we need to do differently for all our cars to be closer to the pace in China. We were very competitive at Zhuzhou last season and the target has to be more podiums and more points. Mikel, Néstor and Norbi all have experience of the track from 2024 and all three will approach the weekend with plenty of belief and determination.”

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

• Ended his 2025 Kumho FIA TCR World Tour victory drought with Race 2 triumph in South Korea
• Having carried 30 kilograms of Compensation Weight at Inje, the Spaniard’s Hyundai Elantra N EV TCR will carry 20 kilograms of additional weight in China
• Zhuzhou International Circuit a happy hunting ground for Azcona following his 2024 victory at the track

Azcona said: “Our expectations for China are really high. I will have less Compensation Weight to carry, which is positive and it’s a track that I like. Last year I had a victory in Race 1, so I have happy memories. As a team we have good data and information. To be honest I’m really looking forward to going racing in Zhuzhou and, also, to fight for the victory. Straight after Inje we started to work on Zhuzhou to prepare the weekend as good as possible and to be also on the podium again.”

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

• Eager to hit back from frustrating Inje weekend at a track where he excelled 12 months ago
• Argentine was less than a lap away from winning Race 2 from pole position at Zhuzhou last season before he settled for the runner-up spot
• Girolami is a two-time Kumho FIA TCR World Tour race winner in 2025 and holds 10th place in the Drivers’ standings

Girolami said: “Zhuzhou is a track where you need a lot of traction and good rotation from the car. I have good memories because last year I took a podium, and we were quite good during the weekend so let’s see what we can do this year. Hopefully we will come back stronger after a tough weekend in South Korea. Coming there from Australia with a good feeling after winning races and taking a pole position, it was hard to understand why it didn’t work so well in Inje. But, like always, we have worked as team to hopefully turn it back on.”

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

• Points scored at Inje Speedium ensured Michelisz maintained his fifth place in the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour Drivers’ ranking
• With zero Compensation Weight fitted to this Hyundai Elantra N EV TCR, the Hungarian has high hopes for challenging for podiums in China
• Like team-mate Girolami, Michelisz has taken two victories in the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour in 2025

Michelisz said: “Zhuzhou is a very nice circuit, we’ve been there last year, so I know the place. It was not my best weekend in 2024, but I think it will suit our Hyundai Elantra N EV TCR a bit more than Inje. Also, I’m losing 40 kilograms of Compensation Weight so I will be very happy about that. With this three-race format it’s a good possibility to score a lot of points. Based on last year’s performance and results we should be competitive, fighting for the pole and a race win.”

Weekend at a Glance

• The BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse drivers get to reacclimatise to Zhuzhou International Circuit with a 20-minute Shakedown from 10:30-10:50 on Friday October 31. That’s followed by Free Practice 1 from 14:00-14:30 and Free Practice 2 from 16:00-16:30.
• Saturday’s track action gets under way with the 20-minute Qualifying Q1 from 10:00-10:20 before Qualifying Q2 takes place from 10:25-10:35.
• Race 1 is due to begin at 15:00 on Saturday. Race 2 and Race 3 follow on Sunday at 12:00 and 16:40 respectively. All races are scheduled to run for 30 minutes plus one lap.
• In addition to the three Hyundai Elantra N EV TCR cars run by BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse, eight Elantra N TCR cars appear on the provisional entry list, entered by five other customer teams.