Organisers of the TCR International Series have ended the exemption which allowed Liqui Moly Team Engstler to field a pair of Audi TT cars in the series for the first few rounds of the season.
Engstler Motorsport fielded a pair of Audi’s in the first four events of the season, with Franz Engstler and Mikhail Grachev campaigning the cars in the first three rounds. Audi Sport development drivers Nicki Thiim and Kelvin Van der Linde then took over the cars in Portugal, immediately enhancing the results gained by the two-door coupés.
The exemption was originally granted partly because team sponsor Liqui Moly wanted to be associated with a German car brand. The team will now compete with a pair of SEAT León cars for Lorenzo Veglia, as he has raced all season so far, and Grachev.
Marcello Lotti, CEO of promoter WSC Ltd., explained that in light of the recent results of the team, which included a win in the first race in Portugal with Nicki Thiim, the exemption had been ended.
“The exemption was granted with the spirit to support our new series and also to allow Audi Sport customer racing to collect information about the necessary requirements for a successful technical platform, which could fit to the TCR regulations,” explained Lotti. “In the light of the latest results, we believe that both these aims have been successfully achieved.
“Therefore, together with the team and Audi Sport customer racing we have decided to end this exemption; also in the respect of the other competitors that have accepted the situation with a true sporting spirit.”
TouringCars.Net understands that the team could switch to the new Volkswagen Golf within the next month, as reported earlier, depending on Volkswagen Motorsport being satisfied with the car’s testing progress.