By Mick Palmer

Two weeks ago a letter from World Sporting Consulting (WSC) to TCR car owners in the United Kingdom indicated that their machines would be banned from officially licensed TCR competition, if they were to be raced in non-sanctioned events.

A number of sources have now confirmed that from 2025 this edict will apply not just in the UK, but also at an international level.

Over the last two weeks Touring Car Magazine has had a number of conversations and communications with parties involved with, and affected by, the decision. We’ve spoken with owners, entrants, media and officials from not just the UK, but in other markets where TCR cars are raced. Many want to remain anonymous until any official confirmation of the international situation has been made or, in the case of some based in the UK, to weigh their options going forward without making a firm commitment.

While WSC themselves have provided a no comment stance, and Motorsport UK has provided a statement that covers only a small part of the issues related, TCR UK Championship Manager Jack Finlan did speak to Touring Car Magazine about many of the issues that have been raised by the release of the statement by WSC, and how it will affect TCR car owners in the United Kingdom.

The current status of the situation has left those with an interest in buying, selling or running TCR cars in a sense of limbo, and the air of uncertainty has so far not solidified the market.

One prominent TCR racer told us: “Only a dickhead would buy a TCR car as things stand.” Another entrant said: “I’ve invested my money in this, why should I be held to ransom over a car I bought out of my own pocket in good fucking faith?”

The simmering anger was not addressed initially, with no official body attempting to calm the waters until TCR UK promoter Maximum Motorsport was left to issue a statement to UK car owners during the week. It read:

“Following on from the update by WSC that homologated TCR cars must run within licensed championships, Maximum Motorsport would like to provide an update.

We have been working hard to not only make TCR UK successful for 2025 but to improve the UK market and give all TCR cars a home and somewhere to race.

In the near future we hope to have a full list of championships which will receive licenses to run TCR cars legally.

We are fully committed to supporting TCR and the concept worldwide.”

The general assumption has been that the entire episode has come from a move by TCR UK itself to remove the new for 2025 Ultimate Racing Championship for Modern Touring Cars as a rival, with other club level championships being caught in the fallout. Although this appears to be not the case it has, it seems, pushed WSC to make a statement in the UK prior to any other country or region.

The UK has been the first place to be officially put on notice of WSC enforcing a TCR regulation regarding homologation and logbooks. According to TCR license holders and invested parties who have communicated with Touring Car Magazine, that has been part of the regulations for quite a while, with those in contact based in other markets also stating that these rules are to be enforced going forward worldwide.

TCR UK Championship Manager Jack Finlan told us that part of the reasoning for the decision by WSC to push this forward now is to protect those who have invested in the TCR format. He said in relation to the license and homologation issue: “That’s always been the case with TCR. The reason that internationally at times I think it hasn’t been enforced as much as it should have been is because they’ve had to grow the customer base. Now I think internationally on the whole, they want things to be done to the letter of the law. They’re not creating a dictatorship over TCR promoters and those looking to race in TCR. A lot of these cars go into different championships and run with non-compliant parts, and then they’re allowed to continue with their homologation document at the end of it.”

A noted problem in TCR is the purchasing of used cars that arrive with WSC/TCR documents claiming the car is within the regulations, but are unable to pass scrutineering. It is something I’ve witnessed in person, and is a problem that has been recounted from global TCR car purchasers. Third party components have appeared in cars, often when sold across borders. Part of the TCR ideology has always been to ensure that purchasers do not fall foul of this problem when acquiring a car.

“In a way that document says that homologation is guaranteed by WSC,” Finlan explains. “If you buy a car with a homologation document that makes it worth, let’s say for example, £60,000, and then you have to spend £20,000 on it to put it back to homologation standard to race in a TCR series, there’s only one loser there isn’t there? It’s there to preserve the value of the cars, so doing things the correct way with the licences maintains that homologation document as valid.”

While this is a salient point. It has been noted that some TCR series’ in areas that perhaps do not have a thriving motorsport culture, in the way the UK does, can struggle to fully realise the technical support that officials need to run these cars, and suggestions to us have included that a stronger “global education policy” should be initialised to support the enforcement of the homologation rules.

While negativity has been the leading angle of the news, in a way, the fact that the UK is at the forefront of administering the homologation rules – and associated blacklist – it should actually strengthen the local market. With UK cars involved in sanctioned TCR racing seemingly more likely to conform to the regulations, they should become a more attractive proposition to purchasers of used cars from both home and abroad, ensuring a shoring up of the price UK based cars can be sold at.

Finlan confirms that this is the thinking from the TCR UK promoters. “There was always a contingency plan from Maximum Motorsport, but people need to appreciate it’s not an overnight process to align things,” he said. “We’ve had some good conversations with different people (in the UK.) We are committed to creating a stable market in the UK for TCR cars, because obviously the stronger the market is, it’s good for us, and better for owners wanting to sell. Cars continually change hands and our customer base becomes stronger. It was never a case that we were trying to close off to other championships. It was just WSC tightening things up a bit from their end.”

The situation with club racing is still in flux but does look like it has an end point. When Touring Car Mag contacted the 750 Motor Club in the immediate aftermath of the release of the WSC letter, they indicated that they did not know at that point what, if any, effect the move would have on their championships. They made it clear that their regulations were ‘deliberately clear’ when it came to the issue of TCR cars and their eligibility, in the sense that there are no specific TCR rules to attract cars from that ruleset. The regulations are worded to, in effect, prevent a mass switch to categories like Club Enduro/Roadsports for newer machines, with the current older DSG cars eligible to fit into one of their pre-existing power to weight ratio classes. This is the same situation with other clubs where TCR cars race – that regulations are open, meaning that those cars are eligible to race on a pure class power to weight ratio in the same way theoretically a BTCC car, a NASCAR, an Aussie V8 Supercar or even a GT4 machine can (with some of those already appearing on a regular basis in club racing.)

Finlan continued: “I saw some comments that almost say we don’t endorse club racing. That’s factually incorrect. Maximum Motorsport does a lot with junior racing and club racing. We own the Civic Cup. It’s not a case of us looking to take away from the club racing market at all. We’re pushing as hard as we can, and we’re trying to make sure that everything is as good as it can be for the club cars. We’re looking to work with them. That is a commitment to everyone that owns a TCR car as well. We understand why people think there are problems, and it was never meant to be the case of how people made it out to be on social media. It was always, I think, going to be the case that there’d be misunderstanding, but Maximum Motorsport are committed to giving people the best possible chances to race their TCR car legally.”

A number of communications have led Touring Car Magazine to understand that a TCR license is available for those championships that want to run TCR cars, with owners keeping homologation. We have been told that WSC have a license for URC if they wish to run a TCR category. Naturally a TCR license is not given without financial recompense. As one broadcaster said to us: “If every series in the world that runs TCR machines gets a licence, that’s a lot of money being spent. Will that get the backup it needs? What about these 24-hour races in Dubai that have one or two cars, or the Nürburgring NLS that has just a couple – will they fess up the money, or will the cars simply not race? This isn’t The CNC Heads or Castle Combe local championships where older car go to race.”

WSC themselves are sticking to a no comment policy, URC themselves have not yet responded directly to an enquiry about whether they have been offered a license. When I broached the information with Finlan it sounded like it was news to him, and it was met with “no comment.” However he did quickly add: “I can’t go on record with giving you any championships that have been offered the chance to receive a licence, but we’re looking at all comers from whatever basis that they are racing at the moment, and we want to help there. It’s good for all of us.”

There are a segment of TCR cars that are in competition that plainly will never return to official TCR racing. It’s not just a homologation issue, it is also age and lack of competitiveness away from where they race now. When asked directly about the possible ostracism of those cars in terms of future upkeep, and if the blacklist extends to a prevention of purchasing TCR components from manufacturers – an issue that car owners themselves have brought forward to TC Magazine – Finlan stated: “It just refers to the homologation documentation. You can still buy parts from the manufacturers. It applies to the licencing of the event you choose to race in. I think that it’s important to understand that.”

As reported elsewhere by Touring Car Magazine, the peripheral damage from the WSC announcement has seen the company in disagreement with Motorsport UK. The possibility of URC providing an entrant for the FIA Motorsport games in 2026, in the TCR events, will not have been well received by the IP rights holder. The ‘breakdown in relationship’ between TCR overall and Motorsport UK has meant that the FIA TCR World Tour will not now join TCR UK for their Oulton Park round in July.

A concern over IP and image rights was a major factor in the original WSC release, and again could be seen for the most part to take aim at URC, but that is likely to have little effect on car owners individually. The homologation and licensing issues are the bigger factors there, however Motorsport UK have updated championship regulations to protect themselves in the event that they sanction a series that is in breach of IP rights. In an update to the regulation they state: ‘The Organisers are solely responsible for ensuring that they are not infringing any third party intellectual property rights. The ASN shall accept no liability for any such infringement.’ The reason for the clarification being ‘This change ensures that there is no doubt as to who is responsible for checking that IP rights are not being infringed when submitting a Championship or Series application.’

When Touring Car Magazine sent an enquiry to Motorsport UK asking if their ‘breakdown in relations’ with WSC did lead to the World Tour round being cancelled, what they plan to do to support owners whose TCR cars could be blacklisted, and if allowing a permit for a rival series to TCR UK when the entry levels are low has criteria to be met they stated:

“Motorsport UK wishes to clarify its Championship Approval process, as outlined in Section W of the National Competition Rules (NCR).

For the Race discipline, Motorsport UK operates a notice of intent process, with recommendations provided by Championship Control Panel who consider key factors to ensure the safety, regulatory conformity and fairness of motorsport in the UK.

It is important to note, financial or commercial detriment to private legal entities, including as a result of alleged third-party intellectual property (IP) infringements, is not considered by the Championship Control Panel, nor is it a statutory or regulatory responsibility of the UK Governing Body.

Clubs and Organisers are responsible for ensuring their activities do not infringe any third-party IP rights. Any legal challenges or disputes arising from such issues are private matters beyond the remit of Motorsport UK and its Championship Control Panel.

In the event of disputes between Championship Organisers, Motorsport UK, as the independent governing body, remains committed to neutrally supporting all parties to find agreeable solutions to ensure the sport continues to operate in a fair, inclusive and enjoyable manner.”

Although the current status of TCR cars in the UK is not entirely secure, with issues still to be resolved, there are a number of balls in a number of courts, and the invested bodies are now in a position to take responsibility to put TCR car owners at the forefront of their aims.

While TCR UK have moved to iron out some of the issues, which is driven by the homologation/blacklist currently being a UK issue, WSC have remained silent, and Motorsport UK have batted away an enquiry.

Calm heads may understand that going forward there will likely be an increase in TCR sanctioned classes, or an acceptance that some older cars will continue to run in class-based systems (with owners accepting the fact that their cars for the time being will be blackballed.) However, the interactions that Touring Car Magazine has had with a handful of owners of the reputed 80+ TCR cars based in the UK – that neither WSC or Motorsport UK are yet to directly address their concerns and questions – leaves them lacking in confidence of those official bodies. As one TCR UK entrant said: “I think TCR cars are the best Touring Cars out there, I really think the BTCC missed a trick in not switching to them, because it would give them scope to grow grids in the long term without having to build specialist cars. They’re almost as fast as those cars. They’re faster that BTCC cars were in the same rules 10 years ago, but TCR came along and democratised Touring Cars. I want to race TCR Cars, but it looks like the freedom TCR gives you is going to be closed off.”