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Hyundai has been busy testing its new i30 TCR race car at the Valencia track in Spain, driven by touring car veteran Gabrielle Tarquini (remember him in the Alfa 155 in early-nineties BTCC? Magical...).
TCR is the brainchild of Marcelo Lotti, and is essentially a lower cost spinoff from the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC).
This was the third test of the car, and Hyundai said that the Valencia circuit was especially suited to the test tanks to "its technical infield section, long front straight and sweeping penultimate corner. The Valencia circuit was chosen, like the testing venues before it, for its mix of high and low speed corners. This offered the test team the opportunity to fully assess the balance of the chassis in a variety of situations over the course of the week, as the tight development schedule demands." Most of the session was dedicated to testing new suspension setups and braking systems.
The New Generation i30 TCR is Hyundai Motorsport's first project designed for circuit racing. The development of the new car is being overseen by the experienced engineers from the Customer Racing department based at the team's headquarters in Alzenau, Germany. The first completed chassis are scheduled to be delivered to customers in early December.
Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing department manager Andrea Adamo said: "Already we have proved that we have a very strong base car. However, this early in a project there are always areas where you can still increase performance and, more importantly for customer project, improve drivability. After establishing the foundations for the set-up at our previous tests we are now building on to them. At Valencia we focused on the damper and brake settings, and we finished this week with very good information in these areas. Future tests will concentrate on other areas, such as developing the aerodynamic package and maximizing the power from the engine."