WTCR enters the decisive phase of the season, the moment that separates the victors from the defeated, success from failure. The last two rounds of the World Touring Car Cup will serve to find a champion, a ‘search’ that will begin in the Adria circuit. The Italian track is dressed up to welcome the WTCR after two years of works in which the track has been remodeled, making the track longer and with new nuances. Gabriele Tarquini and Nicola Bladan compete at home, as do the BRC Racing Team and Target Competition teams for which these two pilots compete.
After delaying his WTCR debut due to delays in the Adria expansion works, the Italian circuit is ready to host the penultimate event of the 2021 season of the World Cup of Touring Cars. An event that will allow WTCR to return to Italy for the first time since 2017, when it was still known as WTCC. Located north of Bologna and 60 kilometers south of Venice, the Adria circuit presents new challenges in a renewed layout that now features 3,745 meters of rope. As a result of its extension, the first race will have 14 laps, while the second round will have a total of 17 spins.
In sporting terms, Yann Ehrlacher remains the rival to beat, as the Frenchman has been the leader of the WTCR since the event passed through the Hungaroring, before the summer break. The Lynk & Co driver has 16 rental points over Jean-Karl Vernay, one of the pilots who got the most out of the Pau-Arnos event. For its part, the Argentine Esteban Guerrieri he also managed to stay in the battle for the title and is 22 points behind the leader. Not far from the Honda rider appear Frédéric Vervisch as the best Audi driver and the veteran Yvan Muller.
All in all, the WTCR is more driven by sensations and due to the ‘swing’ effect generated by the weights for successes. For this reason, riders like Santiago Urrutia, Norbert Michelisz, Gabriele Tarquini at their home event or Gilles Magnus can have a good role, as can Tiago Monteiro and Attila Tassi. More unknowns generates how far Mikel Azcona can go with the CUPRA León Competition after barely saving a handful of points in Pau-Arnos. The Navarrese driver has gone from fighting for the title to being seventh to 45 points behind the leader with a car that does not finish catching up with his rivals.
In the return of the WTCR – as the spiritual successor of the WTCC – to Italy for the first time since 2017, a separate chapter deserves the drivers and home teams. Among those who are part of the regular championship grid, Gabriele Tarquini will defend transalpine pride at the wheel of the BRC Racing Team’s Hyundai Elantra N TCR, a structure that supports the official project of the South Korean brand, but is also based in Italy. For its part, Nicola Baldan will also compete at home, but this time he will do it for the points and not as a ‘wild card’ by taking refuge in one of the two full-time entries that he has the Italian Target Competition team.
Schedules of the WTCR 2021 at the Circuit of Adria