BRC Racing Team ends 2021 WTCR season with emotional weekend at Race of Russia
The 2021 season finale of the WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup has seen a monumental chapter in BRC Racing Team’s history close, as it bid farewell to Gabriele Tarquini at the Race of Russia.
The Italian driver has been instrumental in the success of BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse in the touring car series, first with the Hyundai i30 N TCR, with which the team claimed back-to-back drivers’ titles, and latterly with the Hyundai Elantra N TCR. In the first season with the new car, Tarquini claimed a victory at the Race of Spain and a podium finish at the Race of France, while team-mate Norbert Michelisz was triumphant at the Race of Czech Republic.
The final event of the season proved to be a difficult affair, with BRC Racing Team greeted with tricky damp and wet conditions in qualifying and the races, as well as the maximum compensation weight on the Hyundai Elantra N TCR. Only Michelisz was able to progress into the second phase of qualifying, but he struggled to break into the top-ten to gain an advantageous starting position in Race 1’s reverse grid. He qualified 12th, while Tarquini was classed in 16th.
During a heavy downpour at the start of Race 1, both drivers managed the treacherous conditions to successfully gain positions in the opening lap prior to a safety car. Michelisz climbed four places to eighth, while Tarquini moved into the points with 15th. The Hungarian then struggled after the restart from the safety car, and fell back down the order to finish in 12th, with Tarquini 14th overall.
As chaos unfolded at the start of Race 2, Michelisz climbed from 11th on the grid to eighth with his Hyundai Elantra N TCR. He briefly fell back to ninth, but was able to regain the place in the closing stages of the races. Tarquini had also progressed up the order and was running in twelfth before a mistake on the seventh lap saw him tangle with the car in front, which resulted in his retirement from the race.
BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse ends the 2021 season with four podiums and two wins in 16 races. The sixth place in the teams’ standings and Michelisz and Tarquini eighth and twelfth positions in the drivers’ classification does not reflect, for various reasons, the great performances put in by the drivers with the Hyundai Elantra N TCR.
Team Principal of BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse Gabriele Rizzo said: “First of all, I would like to thank all the staff in our team for the hard work they have done all season long. A special thanks also to Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing for their amazing support. It was overall a great event here at Sochi Autodrom, the home race of our main sponsor LUKOIL. Finally, I’d like to pay one last tribute to Gabriele. It has been an emotional day witnessing his final race, and from all of us in the team, I want to say thank you for everything he has done with us and congratulate him on an exceptional career.”
Norbert Michelisz said: “My races were ok, but I’m not happy with my results today. In the end I’m sad because of qualifying, which should have been better. We faced difficult conditions in the races today – it was damp or heavy rain. I had an issue with visibility and could barely see anything in Race 2. Sometimes you just have to accept that you are in a position like I was today, and it was important to finish both races and gather some information about the conditions. We need to improve in the damp and rain, and I’m confident we will find the right way. It is important to stay focused and to be efficient with our analysis of today.”
Gabriele Tarquini said: “This was not the final event I expected; it was a tough race weekend for us in Russia, because qualifying went wrong for both of our cars. There was no visibility on the first few laps, and it was especially tricky during the restarts after the safety car. You could hardly see anything and it was hard to know where you are on the circuit. I tried to stay away from the trouble but then I made a mistake and locked my front tyres, and was unable to avoid hitting Jordi Gene. I’m sorry for him. On the other hand, my career finished as it started fifty years ago – with a crash – so there is a symmetry there that made me smile under my helmet.”