In an exclusive interview with TouringCars.Net, TCR promoter Marcello Lotti speaks of being ‘proud’ of the inaugural TCR season, his expectations for 2016 and how he was surprised to hear that the FIA had adopted his regulations.
TouringCars.Net: Are you pleased with how the first season of TCR went?
Marcello Lotti: I have to tell you – when we started at the beginning of the season we were really conscious of the fact that we were definitely at the real start-up [stage] of the project. At the beginning there were few brands ready, and especially in late 2014, when I decided to start in 2015, there was only one brand ready, which was SEAT. I think that it was the correct decision to start in any case, suffering at the beginning a little bit, but I think it was a good decision because during the year, week by week, we had interest coming and new brands ready. So we have pride with the decision to start in 2015.
Looking over what happened during the season, and the interest from the drivers, teams, brands and promoters, I think that clearly we have to be not unhappy with the season.
TCN: You had 68 different drivers competing during the 2015 season – you must be hoping for a more consistent entry list in the second season?
ML: This was something to pay for in the start-up season, this was clear, but this also confirmed the different interest that there is around the world from the motorsport community around the TCR concept, because a lot of them wanted to make an effort to take part and participate in at least one TCR event to get a feel for it.
All of the interest that we are receiving in this last month for next season, not only in TCR International but also with the other promoters confirmed to me at the national level, [shows that] all the interest around is a confirmation that 2016 will really be the real start of this new concept of touring cars, and we will consolidate our efforts.
TCN: Are you confident of having large enough grids in the national championships in 2016?
ML: I am confident that they will have a nice grid. I am sure that they will have fewer troubles than we had, because now the cars are ready. The manufacturers have confirmed the number of cars that they are going to produce in the first [round of] production before the end of March, so there are enough cars on the market for them.
I’m sure that they will have fewer troubles than we had and will start with a nice number of cars on the grid. For this we have to be happy because this is a result of our work in 2015.
TCN: Did you speak to the FIA about making TCR cars eligible for their TCN-2 designation?
ML: I never spoke with them. For me, it was a surprise when I read the first article about it, because what I understood from the beginning is that there were a lot of championships linked in to the project, and nobody really followed it with serious interest or a professional attitude. I was not expecting this, but when I read it for the first time in July or August that they would make the TCR-spec car eligible for ETCC in specification TCN-2, when I read that it was eligible to take part, then for us it was confirmation that we had done a good job.
If there is another [organisation] which decides to make this car eligible to take part in the European championship, then I think this is a gift to all the manufacturers that decide to follow and trust me. If they have the opportunity to sell two more cars each, then I think this is what the customer approach needs, so perhaps everybody is happy because they get to sell two or three cars more in another championship. I think that this will be good and I think also it confirms one time more that it was a good decision to trust us. The result is that they can also sell cars in other championships, not only in TCR championships.
Unfortunately they cannot use the TCR brand because this is linked to our company and the promoters that follow our strategy, who sign with a franchising deal with us.
TCN: You have revealed a calendar with three more F1-supporting events in 2016. Is it your intention to continue to appear on the F1 package in the future?
ML: I think it was a very nice experience this year, and we decided to have the negotiations with FOM [Formula One Management] to also finalise a kind of collaboration for 2016.
TCN: The calendar for 2016 doesn’t feature a race in South America – after you cancelled both of the planned events in South America in 2015, is this area of the world still a part of your plans?
ML: Yes, it is still part of our plans, but I want to be sure that everything is working the correct way. There is one country that I like to go to [Chile], but the track homologation is not yet ready. There is another one with whom we are discussing but it’s clear that first of all we have to finalise a financial point, and for this reason I don’t want to put something in the calendar which is not clear or 100% today.
TCN: Do you have any news about any new constructors for 2016?
ML: I think there will be a new one, apart from the ones which everyone already knows about, considering the brands that we know are finalising their development, such as the Ford, the Subaru and the Alfa Romeo, which will be ready for next season.
We can have another three brands before the end of 2016, who in 2017 will be [fully] ready with their car. But at the moment I cannot tell you the brands. There will be at least three more brands.
We need to make a podium for five places, because a three-place podium is not enough when everybody wants to win!
TCN: What do you want to achieve by the end of 2016?
ML: The target in 2016 is clear: what we wish to see is a good start-up season for all the national championships who decided to follow. After the discussions that I had with the different promoters, we are quite confident, and we have to be honest that it is a start-up season for them, but we feel that it will be a success.
One of the goals of 2016 is to consolidate the brand at each event, so that people have the same perception when coming to a TCR International Series event, or when going to a TCR Germany event, a TCR BeNeLux event or a TCR Thailand event. We are working together to give this perception to the people that come to the track and to help grow the popularity of the brand and the concept. We are also working together to increase our media distribution.
For the first year we are very happy with the TV distribution. Considering when we went to sell this product there was only one car racing at the end of 2014, the SEAT León, all the other cars were a road car! In the end they trusted us, and I think all of them are happy and all of them want to increase their involvement in TCR.
TCN: Can you summarise the 2015 season in one sentence?
ML: The term I want to use is good; because we achieved our goals.