South Korea’s largest automaker Hyundai Motor Co.’s i30 N TCR made an impressive debut at the Touring Car Race (TCR) International Series in China, one of the globally renowned racing competitions for cars built on commercial models.

The Korean car maker said on Tuesday that two units of its i30 N TCR, the circuit race car version of Hyundai Motor’s high-performance i30 N hatchback, last week competed in the TCR International Series at Zhejiang International Circuit in China of which the first final round they each came in first and twelfth and in the second final round fourth and sixth. For the latest high-level International Series, 21 racing cars from around the world including Audi RS3 LMS, Volkswagen Golf GTi, and Honda Civic Type R took part.

Before the race, Hyundai Motor had successfully completed the 24-hour car race of the 30 N, a high-performance commercial car that is used to build the i30 N TCR, at Nurburgring, a challenging driving track in Nurburg, Germany, in the past two years.

The conventional car’s 2.0-litre turbo-charged engine with direct injection was tuned for car-racing purpose, allowing up to 330 horsepower. The i30 N TCR also comes with a six-speed sequential gearbox, which allows the highest level of performance among racing cars built on commercial models.

Hyundai Motor plans to upgrade the racing car’s performance based on data earned from the circuit event and start to supply the racing car to international professional racing teams later this year.

By Lee Seung-hoon

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]