At the home of the Spanish Grand Prix, the TCR Europe 2023 season concluded at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya track, where Levente Losonczy, racing for Aggressive Team Italia, also participated. Supported by the Hungarian Motorsport Academy, Levente started the second race from the second row.
Barcelona hosted the TCR Europe series’ final weekend of the year, and a significant portion of the field was made up of Audis, which had a notable impact on the weekend’s dynamics. This year, it was observed several times that the German manufacturer’s cars were very strong on the straights, and this held true in Spain, making it quite challenging for Levente due to the track’s characteristics.
The Győr-based driver quickly adapted to the track during practice sessions, ending the Friday with a sense of where to make changes for the Saturday qualifying session and the first race. “We started at 9 in the morning, and I had some good laps. I immediately liked the rhythm of the track. The balance of the car wasn’t optimal in the second practice session, and we’ll work on changing that for tomorrow. We’re definitely not lost; there’s still a lot left in us,” Levente stated before aiming for Q2 in qualifying.
On Saturday, he successfully achieved this, securing the 7th grid position for Race 1 and qualifying for the second row of the reverse grid race on Sunday, starting from the 4th place. The start of the first race went well; Levente immediately overtook one of the Lynk & Co drivers, but already in Turn 1, it was clear that a challenging race awaited him.
“My start was quite good; I managed to gain a position by overtaking one of the Lynk & Co cars, but the Audis caught up immediately, already at the first corner. I found myself sandwiched between them, and we began to fight in the first couple of turns, which caused me to drop a few places. There was a lot of traffic and that’s how most of the race unfolded. I finished in 9th place; that’s how the race went,” said the Hungarian Motorsport Academy member.
At the start of the second race held on Sunday, Daniel Tkachenko, starting from 2nd on the grid in front of Levente, jumped the start causing some disruption. The Ukrainian driver temporarily took the lead while Levente struggled in the combination of Turns 1 and 2, and in Turn 3, he was pushed from behind, dropping to 7th place by the halfway point of the first lap. The scenario seen on Saturday continued, with close battles and traffic forming in the field, resulting in Levente finishing 8th in the race.
“My reaction time at the start of the second Barcelona race was also good, and I wasn’t bothered by the driver in front of me who jumped the start and received a penalty for it. The Audis caught up again at Turn 1, and at Turn 3, one of them bumped me, and my car started to slide at the rear. I regained control, but I lost momentum, and we had a few more contacts, causing four Audis to pass me. There’s not much you can do against them; they are so fast on the straights that overtaking them is nearly impossible. We basically repeated yesterday’s race, pushing each other and battling, and I ultimately finished in 8th place. The car was great, and this was the best we could get from this race. I enjoyed the competition, and I can’t wait for Imola!”
“I want to thank Aggressive Team Italia for their work throughout the entire TCR Europe season, Gianni Morbidelli for the coaching, my father, our sponsors, and the Hungarian Motorsport Academy for their support.”
Levente has one more race weekend in his 2023 racing schedule, taking place at the TCR Italy season finale in Imola from October 27th to 29th. He finished 3rd in the second race of the season at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari.
Levente Losonczy, TCR Europe Barcelona results
Free Practice 1: P9
Free Practice 2: P10
Qualifying: P7
Race 1: P9
Race 2: P8
Points standings: P11
