Marcello Lotti, Group President of World Sporting Consulting, the owner of the TCR brand has released a Q&A statement to clarify the digital passport issue that was revealed by Touring Car Magazine in December of last year.

In the fallout of the enforcement of the rules, statements were released by WSC themselves and involved parties. At the time WSC did speak with Touring Car Magazine but would not be drawn into making on-the-record statements.

In the meantime, Maximum Motorsport – the promoters of TCR UK – have signed sub-license agreements with both the 750 Motor Club and BRSCC for championships in their roster that feature TCR machinery.

The full Q&A is as follows:

Marcello Lotti, the president of WSC Group, the commercial and technical rights holders of the TCR brand and concept, has today responded to questions and concerns raised by drivers and teams who own licenced TCR cars, following some localised activity in the UK to encourage competitors to run their cars in their unlicensed events.

Q: What will be the effect of running a TCR car in an unlicensed series?

“It’s important for any team that chooses to race their car in an unlicensed series to understand the ramifications to themselves from both a commercial and safety perspective,” explains Lotti.

“With over 1,500 cars built in the last ten years, and with 36 officially licenced TCR categories racing globally in 2024, we ensure that every car has its own official TCR digital passport to ensure it’s been correctly maintained, homologated, and is fit for purpose.

“As part of our ethos, we have a duty of care to maintain the integrity of the cars for our series and our TCR series licence holders, and so once a car is out of ‘circulation’, it will lose its TCR authentication, and it will not be allowed to race in any of the global network of licenced TCR categories from that point on.

“We will also inform the manufacturer and car builders of the change in homologation status of the vehicle.”

Q: Why will this matter?

“TCR has an incredible network of series in which to race, which is why TCR cars have an incredibly strong residual value, we believe it’s perhaps the highest residual value of any dedicated racing car product in the world.

“A car with a TCR technical passport can be taken by any team or racing driver to any series anywhere in the world. However, that residual value will be lost as any car that races in an unlicensed series will lose access to the global TCR market, and the car will become almost valueless, restricted to private or grassroots events only.”

Q: Are there other considerations? Why do you remove the passport?

“As we can’t assure the quality and safety standards of the cars, since once they’re racing in any unlicensed category which doesn’t follow the stringent FIA-standard scrutineering processes we enforce, what has happened to that car is now completely unmonitored.

“This means that we can’t be certain that the car hasn’t been tampered with in an unprofessional manner, or is even safe to race in one of our series.”

Q: If I buy the car from a competitor that raced the car in an unlicensed series, can I get the TCR technical passport reinstated?

“Unfortunately not. Once the car has its passport removed, there will be no way to have its TCR technical passport reinstated. Our advice to anyone planning to buy a car which they believe has been racing in unlicensed competition, does their own due diligence to ensure the car’s TCR technical passport is valid so they have bought a car which is certified to take part in the many official TCR categories across the world.”

Q: What do you think about this unlicensed series in the UK, which is telling teams they can use their TCR cars in their series without issue?

“Given the amount of hard and dedicated work that has required a lot of time and investment in TCR, the brand is very well recognised globally.

“This comes with its challenges, and can lead to unauthorised use of our brand, as well as unauthorised statements involving or concerning us.

“Please note that Maximum Motorsport is the only authorised (and exclusive) licensee of the TCR brand, trade mark and other IP from WSC. Further, please disregard any statements concerning TCR, its homologation rules, information about TCR passports or any other statements concerning TCR or WSC from third parties, as these may be unauthorised and may be misleading. The correct information will come from statements directly made by WSC.

“WSC stands with fair and respectful players in the industry, and respects the engagement with OEMs, the FIA, and last but not least, our final customers, the teams and drivers.”