Following its TCE win at last weekend’s Hankook 12H CIRCUIT PAUL RICARD, Autorama Motorsport by Wolf-Power Racing now leads the Overall TCE Teams’ championship, albeit by just a single point ahead of CWS Engineering and TCR class rival, AC Motorsport. 

The reigning TCE Teams’ champion scored a double podium at the season opener in Dubai, the #112 Volkswagen Golf GTi heading home the sister #1. Poor fortune meant Autorama Motorsport by Wolf-Power Racing missed the TCR podium for the very first time in the 24H SERIES in Mugello, but at Paul Ricard, the #1 VW scored the Swiss team’s first win of the season, leading home the #112 Golf for an Autorama Motorsport 1-2 in TCE.

The result now puts Autorama Motorsport ahead of CWS Engineering in the TCE title standings, the latter having suffered collision damage and a broken wheel insert among myriad other setbacks at Paul Ricard en-route to a hard-earned 2nd in-class behind the TCX winning Nordschleife Racing Ligier JS2 R. The result was CWS’ third straight 2nd place in the 24H SERIES this season and keeps the British team at the head of the TCX-class standings, but was not enough to prevent Autorama Motorsport leapfrogging to the top of the Overall TCE standings. 

AC Motorsport meanwhile also lies just one point behind in the title chase. The Belgian team looked set to take TCE victory at the Hankook 12H CIRCUIT PAUL RICARD after a commanding performance, but a broken bearing on the rear left wheel ended up dropping the Audi RS 3 LMS to 3rd with only two hours of the race left to run. The drama was reminiscent of the 2019 Hankook 24H DUBAI, another event at which AC Motorsport looked set to take TCE victory only for a fire in the left rear wheel housing, a conflagration that sent smoke into the cabin and ultimately dropped the Audi to 5th at the flag. Ironically, Autorama Motorsport was the beneficiary on that occasion too. A solid 4th place at the Hankook 24H DUBAI and 3rd place at the Hankook 12H MUGELLO however keep AC Motorsport well in contention for the Overall TCE Teams’ title. 

Fellow TCE title contender Red Camel-Jordans.nl endured a tough race at Circuit Paul Ricard. The Dutch completed an engine change and replaced a broken wishbone on its CUPRA TCR before the race had even begun, but electrical problems and broken steering dropped the team so far behind, the CUPRA was eventually withdrawn from the event. Despite its TCE win at last month’s Hankook 12H MUGELLO, a difficult Paul Ricard round and suspension woes en-route to 9th in Dubai have now dropped Red Camel-Jordans.nl 24 points back in the title chase.