Papantonis secures the first ever UAETCC TCR title

Costas Papantonis has been crowned the first ever TCR champion in the NGK United Arab Emirates Touring Car Championship that came to an end today at Dubai Autodrome.
The series that kicked off in Abu Dhabi at the end of October 2018, was run on seven events, five in Dubai and two at Yas Marina, with two sprint races each; for the first time it included a TCR class.
Papantonis, at the wheel of a CUPRA entered by Mouhritsa Racing, the only TCR machine in the lot, outpaced the SEAT León Cup, Renault Clio Cup and Honda Integra cars.
He claimed overall victories in nine of the 14 rounds, he did not finish one and missed the three consecutive races because of a few technical issues, but when his car was working well he was by far the fastest.

“Performance was ok and the car was good. We did face a few technical problems, because it was the first full season with the car and we were still learning about it. Luckily, with the help of CUPRA Racing back in the factory we have managed to iron out all the issues,” he commented.