The fifth full season of the TCR Europe series will kick off in Portimão in Portugal this weekend boasting a field of 21 cars, with cars from four different manufacturers featured on the grid.
The most popular car is the CUPRA Leon Competición TCR, which features for six different drivers. All three of the other manufacturers’ models, the Hyundai Elantra N TCR, the JAS Motorsport-developed Honda Civic TCR and the new-specification Audi RS3 LMS TCR, will feature five cars on the grid.
Reigning champion Mikel Azcona will not contest this season, but his nearest challenger in 2021, Argentine Franco Girolami, stay on the grid, having switched to Comtoyou Racing to campaign an Audi.
Experienced tin-top star Tom Coronel will also stay on the grid as Girolami’s team-mate, and is the next highest-ranked driver from 2021 to continue into another season.
Several big changes have taken place during the off-season. Sébastien Loeb Racing ran four cars in 2021, but sold those in the winter and has instead entered a single CUPRA for Corsican racer John Filippi.
That also means Felice Jelmini has had to change teams, but not cars. The Italian joins the returning Target Competition for 2022 in a Hyundai Elantra.
Target’s return is arguably the biggest news, as it fields a total of three Hyundai Elantras for Jelmini, 2017 TCR Italy champion Nicola Baldan and 2019 TCR Europe champion Josh Files.
Janík Motorsport is back for another season, although it has upgraded its old Hyundai i30 N cars for two Hyundai Elantras, to again be raced by Slovakian Mat’o Homola and Czech Jáchym Galáš.
Halder Motorsport, which last raced in TCR Europe in 2020, is returning for 2022 with a three-strong assault comprising of brother-and-sister duo Mike and Michelle Halder and Jack Young.
The other team fielding Hondas is the Slovakian Brutal Fish Racing Team, which again enters Team Principal Martin Ryba and the returning Pepe Oriola, who clinched last year’s TCR South America title.
Although Azcona isn’t returning, the team he ran with last year is – and with an expanded line-up. Volcano Motorsport will field four CUPRAs for Team Principal Evgenii Leonov, compatriot Kilm Gavrilov, young Spaniard Isidro Callejas and Portuguese Gustavo Moura Jr.
Due to the war in Ukraine and the FIA decision not to permit Russian drivers to compete under their flags, Leonov and Gavrilov will compete under a ‘neutral’ flag.
Three drivers will make their débuts in this weekend’s action at the Algarve circuit. Portuguese racer Luís Cidade races an Audi under the Élite Motorsport by Comtoyou banner for the opening event, along with 20-year-old Swiss racer Miklas Born.
Volcano Motorsport has added a fourth car for Moura, who has also been taking part in TCR Spain so far this year along with Gavrilov and Callejas.
Returning for another crack at TCR Europe are the experienced Macedonian racer Viktor Davidovski, now at Comtoyou Racing in an Audi, and Giacomo Ghermandi, continuing in a CUPRA in 2022 after racing in TCR Eastern Europe and TCR Europe in 2022.
Entry List
| Driver | No. | Team | Car |
 Luís Cidade |
2 | Élite Motorsport by Comtoyou | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II |
 Giacomo Ghermandi |
3 | Lema Racing | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR |
 Mike Halder |
7 | Halder Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR |
| Nicola Baldan |
8 | Target Competition | Hyundai Elantra N TCR |
 Klim Gavrilov |
14 | Volcano Motorsport | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR |
| Evgenii Leonov |
16 | Volcano Motorsport | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR |
 Martin Ryba |
17 | Brutal Fish Racing Team | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR |
 Miklas Born |
18 | Élite Motorsport by Comtoyou | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II |
 Jáchym Galáš |
24 | Janík Motorsport | Hyundai Elantra N TCR |
 Isidro Callejas |
26 | Volcano Motorsport | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR |
 John Filippi |
27 | Sébastien Loeb Racing | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR |
 Tom Coronel |
33 | Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II |
| Felice Jelmini |
44 | Target Competition | Hyundai Elantra N TCR |
| Michelle Halder |
53 | Halder Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR |
 Jack Young |
62 | Halder Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR |
| Mat’o Homola |
70 | Janík Motorsport | Hyundai Elantra N TCR |
 Franco Girolami |
72 | Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II |
| Pepe Oriola |
74 | Brutal Fish Racing Team | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR |
| Josh Files |
99 | Target Motorsport | Hyundai Elantra N TCR |
 Viktor Davidovski |
110 | Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II |
| Gustavo Moura Jr. |
124 | Volcano Motorsport | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR |