2017 TCR Salzburgring, preview

Alpine challenge for the TCR International Series competitors
For the third time the TCR International Series returns to the Salzburgring, one of the championship’s favourite locations thanks to its superb alpine setting, the local people’s warm welcome and the characteristics of the racetrack itself; fast, demanding and perfectly suited to Touring Car competition.
The two previous visits of the series provided four different winners in very different weather conditions.
Kevin Gleason (Honda Civic) and Michel Nykjær (SEAT León) won the 2015 races in the sunshine, while Mikhail Grachev (Honda Civic) won last year’s first race on a dry track, but under the threat of rain, benefiting from a technical issue that stopped Pepe Oriola’s SEAT with only four laps to go.
The rain arrived in time for the second race, flooding the track; Jean-Karl Vernay (Volkswagen Golf) made fewer mistakes than anybody else and surfaced as the winner.
Set up is crucial at the Salzburgring, to avoid issues with wear of the front-left tyre. It is also important to survive the risks of a pile-up at the first chicane and avoid high-speed contacts that may result in massive damage to the cars.
Track activity will be concentrated between Saturday and Sunday, with two Practice sessions and the Qualifying on day 1, and the two races on Sunday.
TCR in Salzburgring – the event at a glance
Lap distance: 4.24 km
Race distance: 15 laps
Start: standing
Grids: determined by Qualifying results (Q1+Q2) with top-10 reversed for Race 2
Timetable:
Saturday, 10:00/10:30 - Free Practice 1
Saturday, 12:00/12:30 - Free Practice 2
Saturday, 15:00/15:35 - Qualifying (Q1 + Q2)
Sunday, 13:05 - Race 1
Sunday, 14:35 - Race 2
all times: GMT +2