- Èric Gené, Érik Zabala and Sandro Pelatti will defend the colors of the Barcelona team in 2024 in the Spanish championship, which starts this weekend in Madrid.
- All of them will drive the new CUPRA León VZ TCR, the latest evolution of the Martorell firm’s reference model in the TCR and which will make its debut in Spain.
- “The championship is in excellent health and this season will be more competitive than ever. We trust that the experience accumulated in 2023 and the work during the pre-campaign will allow us to repeat among the best,” says David Simón, Team Manager of Monlau Motul.
- “Our lineup of drivers should allow us to be in the fight to defend the absolute, junior and team titles won in 2023. Our association with CUPRA also gives us top-level material to fight for it,” points out Jaime Serrano, CEO of Monlau Motul.
Monlau Motul begins this weekend at the Jarama circuit the defense of the TCR Spain title with a powerful lineup made up of two young values, Èric Gené and Érik Zabala, and the experienced Sandro Pelatti, all of them supported by a complete staff of technicians and professional engineers and professors from the Spanish motorsport school. The team will have, once again, the support of CUPRA, a brand that will debut in Spain three units of the new León VZ TCR, the same weapon with which the Martorell firm competes in the main international competitions of the category. Jarama will host the first of the four events that make up the TCR Spain 2024, which will be attended by a record entry of 19 vehicles, 16 of which are from the main category (TCR Spain).
With the beautiful memory of the full number of titles achieved by Monlau Motorsport in 2023, the Barcelona team turns the calendar page and starts again from scratch. The new TCR Spain campaign points to a notable increase in competitiveness, which, together with a calendar that remains very short, with only four scoring matches, makes each timed session and race a challenge for drivers and teams.
Monlau Motul will compete with three drivers who combine experience and youth in abundance. The youngest will be Èric Gené, who after a full season in Spanish F4 makes the leap to the specialty that established his father Jordi as a motorsports legend. The little offspring of the Gené saga comes from a magnificent performance in the TCR Spain preseason, which ended as runner-up and where he added a victory. He will share a box with the Catalan that of his namesake Érik Zabala, from Lodosa, Navarra, and who at 19 years old is promoted to the absolute championship after winning the TCR Cup in 2023 defending the colors of Monlau Motorsport. The point of seniority will be provided by the Italian Sandro Pelatti, who at 56 years old combines the TCR World Tour with the Spanish competition. Pelatti has more than 8 years of experience in touring car racing, mainly in Italian national events, where he has been a regular since 2016.
Gené, Zabala and Pelatti will have the technical support of a competent staff made up of 30 professionals at Jarama. , between mechanics and engineers. It should be noted that all of them will have to divide efforts in this first weekend of competition in Jarama between the Spanish F4 cars and the TCR Spain units.
David Simón , Team Manager of Monlau Motul, measures the challenge for the team: “We are looking forward to starting our journey in the TCR Spain, a championship that is in excellent health and that this year will be more competitive than ever. We trust that the experience accumulated in 2023 and all the work carried out during the preseason will allow us to repeat among the top positions. The challenge is great, but we are prepared to take it on.”
Jaime Serrano , CEO of Monlau Motul, confirms the ambition of the Barcelona team: “Our lineup of drivers should allow us to be in the fight for the absolute, Junior and team titles, which we have already won in 2023. We have worked very hard for it. , and our technical association, for yet another season, with CUPRA allows us to enjoy top-level material to fight for it.”
The inaugural event of the TCR Spain will be held within the framework of the first Jarama Speed Meeting, and will start on Friday afternoon with verifications and a brief 55-minute shakedown on the track. On Saturday there will be two 30-minute free practice sessions and the timed session. The meeting will be completed by the two races, scheduled for Sunday and scheduled for the usual duration of 25 minutes plus one lap.
TCR Spain 2024 calendar
May 11 and 12 – Jarama Circuit (Madrid)
July 19 and 20 – Estoril Circuit (Portugal)
October 5 and 6 – Ricardo Tormo Circuit (Valencia)
November 23 and 24 – Barcelona Circuit -Catalunya (Montmeló)
