- Viktor Andersson sets the fastest time in qualifying and takes second place in the first race, in addition to winning the Youth Trophy.
- Marco Butti completes a good qualifying session with the third best time and fights for the victory in the first heat.
- Adam Shepherd once again demonstrates his competitiveness, but two punctures hamper his chances.
- “Viktor’s pole position and second place, Marco’s third place in qualifying and the performance we showed throughout the weekend reflect the enormous work done by the entire technical team,” says David Simón, team manager of Monlau Motul Technical School.
- “The weekend’s results show that we are competing at the highest level. We were the fastest in free practice, we took pole position, and we fought for the win in the first race,” says Jaime Serrano, CEO of Monlau Motul.
Monlau Motul Technical School once again positioned itself among the protagonists of the 2026 TCR Europe season during the third round, held at the Circuit Paul Ricard (France). The Barcelona-based team stood out thanks to Viktor Andersson’s pole position and second-place finish in the first race (first in the Youth category), in a championship marked by extreme competitiveness.
The action began on Friday with two free practice sessions. In the first session, Andersson was fastest with a time of 2:11.738, confirming from the outset the strong performance of the CUPRA León VZ TCR cars prepared by Monlau Motul.
On Saturday morning, the Barcelona-based team confirmed their positive feelings. In qualifying, Andersson secured a brilliant pole position with a time of 2:10.720, a feat he hadn’t achieved in the European Championship since 2023. Marco Butti qualified third, while Shepherd qualified 14th.
The first race saw constant changes at the front. Andersson defended his lead at the start, while Butti made a strong start to move into second place and challenge his teammate for the lead. The Italian even briefly took the lead, but the intense battle between the two allowed several rivals to join the fight for the top positions.
Despite losing a few positions in that exchange, Andersson remained in the leading group and crossed the finish line in third place. A subsequent penalty for one of his rivals allowed him to move up to second place overall, a result he completed by winning the Youth Trophy. Meanwhile, Butti ran among the leaders for much of the race, but a puncture on the final lap relegated him to 20th. Shepherd also suffered a puncture and finished 19th.
The second race, held on Sunday with a reversed grid compared to the qualifying results , again presented a very demanding scenario. Butti started eighth, Andersson tenth, and Shepherd fourteenth. The Italian was forced to retire prematurely after a technical issue. Andersson also suffered an incident that compromised his chances, and a 10-second penalty for a premature start ultimately affected his final result. Shepherd, for his part, was again hampered by a puncture that prevented him from capitalizing on the good pace he had shown throughout the weekend.
Following the French round, Andersson maintains fourth position in the overall championship standings and holds second place in the Youth Trophy. Monlau Motul is third in the team standings with three rounds remaining in the season.
David Simón , team manager of Monlau Motul, highlighted the high level shown by the team despite the setbacks: “Viktor’s pole position and second place, Marco’s third place in qualifying, and the performance we showed throughout the weekend reflect the enormous work done by the entire technical team. The first race confirmed our potential to fight for victory, although various incidents prevented us from achieving an even better result. On Sunday, some incidents prevented us from reaping the rewards of everything we had demonstrated on the track. The entire team, led by engineer Víctor Martínez, made a great effort and showed great dedication.”
Jaime Serrano , CEO of Monlau Motul, positively assessed the level of the Barcelona-based team: “The weekend’s results demonstrate that we are competing at the highest level. We were the fastest in free practice, secured pole position, and fought for the win in the first race. The team’s overall performance was once again very solid.”
The next round of TCR Europe will be held from July 3-5 at the Hungaroring (Hungary), where Monlau Motul will be looking to close the gap in the different championship classifications.
Paul Ricard rankings:
https://europe.tcr-series.com/index.php/2026-ev/item/le-castellet
TCR Europe overall standings:
https://europe.tcr-series.com/index.php/tcrstandings
