- The Spanish team wins the TCR Spain, TCR Cup and team championships, in addition to the Junior trophy, in an unbeatable ending to the season at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
- Quique Bordás signs the TCR Spain scepter fighting against prominent international references in the category.
- Érik Zabala confirms his dominance of the TCR Cup with an impeccable season: five victories and three second places.
- “ We are very proud of our pilots, mechanics and engineers. And I would also like to value the support of Cupra, which has given us great support all season ,” says Jaime Serrano, CEO of Monlau Motorsport.
Monlau Motul Technical School has taken all the TCR Spain titles at stake after the last test of the season, held last weekend at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with a team led in sports by two very young values, Quique Bordás and Érik Zabala, joined by a close technical staff made up of students and teachers of mechanics and motorsport engineering from Monlau Motul. Their work, together with the direct support of CUPRA, has served to say goodbye to an unbeatable 2023, with victory in all classifications at stake: TCR Spain and Junior Trophy (Bordás), TCR Cup (Zabala) and team title.
The fourth and final test of the 2023 TCR Spain season came with a record registration (22 participants) as a great incentive, after the emergence of new international teams and riders, many of them of high level. This novelty added a pinch of uncertainty to the meeting for the Monlau Motul Technical School pilots, who completed a Friday of exploring the route in mixed conditions and with very cold conditions on the asphalt and in the environment, which made optimal management of the conditions capital. tires.
However, ‘D-day’ began at nine o’clock on Saturday, the time reserved for the qualifying round. With an asphalt that was around 12ºC, Bordás managed to squeeze his CUPRA León Competition to overcome Q1 in seventh place (1:51.531) and, later, in the second segment, lower his record to 1:50.795, which awarded him sixth place. grid and the first points of the weekend. Érik Zabala, for his part, confirmed the good feelings of the day before by taking pole position of the TCR Cup (1: 53.236).
Just two hours later the first race arrived, which both Bordás and Zabala faced with mathematical possibilities of winning their respective titles. Quique made a great start but, as a result of various attempts by others in turns 2 and 3, he gave up some positions. The TCR Spain leader then went into comeback mode, and ended up crossing the checkered flag in an excellent fourth place that mathematically assured him the title. Also controlling performance for Érik Zabala, who maintained his privileged position from the light to the checkered flag, also sealing the TCR Cup championship.
With the main classifications already resolved, the biggest challenge of the race with an inverted grid would be to say goodbye to the year with good feelings and the best possible classification. Quique Bordás once again made a great start, but was hit by several blows in Turn 2, which once again led him to struggle in the pack. After numerous overtakes, the Catalan driver crossed the finish line in seventh place. Zabala, for his part, fought a great battle and finished in second place in the TCR Cup.
Once the points of both were added, two extra titles were confirmed: that of Bordás as the best Junior of the TCR Spain and that of Monlau Motul in the team section. In this way, the Catalan team closed a perfect year with a plethora of trophies.
David Simón , Team Manager of Monlau Motul, was full of praise for the team’s drivers: “ We are very happy after a weekend in which both Quique and Érik have performed very intelligently. In very tough races full of battles, the two have managed to mathematically confirm their titles with one race left, proving to be one step ahead of the rest .”
Jaime Serrano , CEO of Monlau Motorsport, put the finishing touch on the team’s season: “ We say goodbye to 2023 in which we feel very proud of our drivers, mechanics and engineers. I would also like to highlight the team title, whose merit is shared with CUPRA, which has supported us during the season. The CUPRA León Competition has proven to be the best TCR on the grid. Now it’s time to rest and start thinking about 2024. ”
