“After two victories this weekend at Estoril, He�ctor Herna�ndez and Borja Hormigos have been proclaimed champions of the TC category of the Iberian Supercars Endurance and the Portuguese Speed Championship, at the wheel of their BMW M240i Racing, with the assistance of Autoworks Motorsport and the main sponsorship of EBC Frenos España.

“The Iberian Supercars Endurance 2023 (gt4southeuropean.com) reached its final round in Estoril with all the titles to be decided, a fact that was reflected in the large number of people who came to the circuit throughout the weekend.”

“Friday was devoted entirely to free practice, which HeÌ�ctor and Borja took advantage of to memorise a track they had never raced on before. Saturday’s programme concentrated all the action in the official practice sessions, in which both Borja and HeÌ�ctor took first place in the TC division, qualifying ahead of other drivers with more powerful cars from higher categories. In the two races that completed the Sunday schedule, the team achieved two division victories.

“The entire team’s worth was put to the test with seamless mechanical reliability, great on-track pace with no mistakes and precise driver changeover stops, which were undoubtedly key to, not only in this race, the deciding factor in being consistent throughout the season.”

“The points obtained for this double victory have allowed the team to win the title of both championships in the TC category (both in Iberian Supercars Endurance and the Portuguese Speed Championship) in their first year of participation in the most prestigious touring car competition in the Iberian Peninsula.

“HeÌ�ctor and Borja declared in the press conference after the podium: “We are very satisfied because, apart from the learning that we have taken with us, we have been able to materialize in the form of titles all the work that the team has done during the whole season, in a championship with a very high level”. “

“After the Vila Real event and after more than half of the championship, He�ctor Herna�ndez and Borja Hormigos are positioned as one of the favourite teams in the fight for the title in the TC category of the Portuguese Speed Championship, at the wheel of their BMW M240i Racing, with the assistance of Autoworks Motorsport and the main sponsorship of EBC Frenos España.

“The Portuguese Speed Championship, which is run in parallel with the Iberian Supercars Endurance, reached the main event of the season in Vila Real (Portugal). The popularity of this event is recognised by the fans and the large crowds that flocked to the circuit throughout the weekend, with hundreds of thousands of people crowding the streets of the Portuguese city.”

“On Thursday, the traditional parade took place, in which the cars left the pits to drive to the main square of the town where hundreds of fans were waiting to meet the drivers and their cars, to conclude with an official inauguration by the authorities of the 52^nd edition of this mythical competition.

“The action on track started on Friday morning with free practice; a session that the drivers took advantage of to learn the peculiarities and references of this complicated urban track, which was without a doubt the biggest challenge they had faced behind the wheel to date.

“On Saturday, the action started with the official practice sessions, which were held under a light drizzle to the surprise of all the teams, The Autoworks team qualified in second position for the first race and in third position for the class in the second race. In the afternoon, the first of the races was held in which the second place was achieved by less than a second, a position that felt like a victory due to the performance of the rival cars and drivers, demonstrating a great pace that allowed the pair to lead a group of more powerful cars until the chequered flag was waved.”

“In the race on Sunday, given the pace of the first race, there was little to win and much to lose, so the duo decided not to take risks and secure the points obtained thanks to a third place in the Touring Car division, which allows the team to be virtual leaders of both TC classifications (both in Supercars Endurance and in the Portuguese Speed Championship) after this third meeting and after the half-way point of the Iberian Supercars Endurance.

“The Iberian Supercars Endurance action will continue, after the summer break, on 21 and 22 October at the legendary Jerez Circuit, where this endurance motor racing event on Iberian circuits will share the stage with classic car endurance races.�

“The Spanish duo, He�ctor Herna�ndez and Borja Hormigos, took two valuable victories at their home event of the Iberian Supercars Endurance series, at the wheel of their BMW M240i Racing at the Gulf Jarama Classic, with the assistance of Autoworks Motorsport and the main sponsorship of EBC Frenos.

“The Iberian Supercars Endurance 2023 came to Spain for the first time this season as part of the Gulf Jarama Classic. The popularity of this event is recognized by the fans and the large number of people who came to the circuit throughout the weekend, including the guests of 91´«Ã½ who were able to enjoy a day with unbeatable views of the track from the floor-box, together with an exclusive visit to the Autoworks Motorsport box where the drivers welcomed them to tell them about the peculiarities of their car, the team and this competition.”

“Action on the race track started on Saturday morning with free practice; a session that the drivers took advantage of to remember the peculiarities and references of their city track, which, although it was well known, they had not raced on since 2019. In the afternoon, the action began with the official practice sessions, with both Borja and He�ctor taking pole position in the TC division and third in class, qualifying ahead of other riders with more powerful vehicles.

“In the two races that took place on the Sunday, the team achieved two valuable division victories, as well as a win and a second place in the Touring Car class, which allows the team to be virtual leaders in both classifications of the championship after this second meeting.

“The Iberian Supercars Endurance action will continue on 15 and 16 July at the spectacular street circuit of Vila Real, where this endurance motor racing event will share the stage with the international 24H Series championship.�

“The duo formed by HeÌ�ctor HernaÌ�ndez and Borja Hormigos have debuted in the opening round of the Iberian Supercars Endurance 2023 with two victories, at the wheel of their BMW M240i Racing at the AutoÌ�dromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimão, with the assistance of Autoworks Motorsport and the sponsorship head of 91´«Ã½ Spain.

“The activity on the track of this South European series began on Friday with free practice, a session that the drivers from all over Europe use to remember the particularities and references of the spectacular Portuguese track. At noon on Saturday, the action began with official practice that was held on a dry track, with Borja and HeÌ�ctor obtaining pole position in the TC division, third in their class, qualifying ahead of other drivers with more powerful vehicles.”

“In the two races that took place on Sunday, the team achieved two valuable division victories, in addition to two podium finishes in the Touring Car class, which allows the team to be division leaders in the championship standings after this first meeting.

“The action of the Iberian Supercars Endurance will continue on June 10-11 at the Jarama-RACE circuit in Madrid, where the main endurance automobile event on circuits in the Iberian Peninsula will share the stage with the prestigious Jarama Classic.�

“We are very excited to continue growing step-by-step as athletes, and this year to be able to compete together in the prestigious Iberian Supercars Endurance. It will be quite a challenge for the team to participate in this championship, which is being held on some circuits that we don’t know, although we are very clear that the premise is still to continue learning and improving, but without forgetting that our performance must be in-line with the Iberian and European dimension of the framework of this competition,â€� said HeÌ�ctor and Borja.

The Iberian Supercars Endurance is the peninsula reference circuit championship, which combines cars from the GT4 and TCR categories. Its calendar includes five events, which visit emblematic racetracks in Spain and Portugal such as Jarama, Jerez, Portimao and Estoril, not to mention Vila Real – the only urban circuit in the Iberian Peninsula. The format is two 15-minute qualifying sessions and two 45-minute races, with mandatory pit stops for driver changes.

The Iberian Supercars Endurance season will begin on 6-7 May at the Auto�dromo Internacional do Algarve, and this and all the races will be broadcast on television (Portuguese channel Abola TV), as well as via streaming on YouTube.

“Following the recent announcement by JamSport Racing that it will be running the new Subaru WRX STI TCR car in the 2022 TCR UK championship, we were keen to get into the testing and development phase ahead of the competitive season.

“When we started the testing and developing of the car, one of the key areas that showed some room for improvement was the braking system. We were keen to try out EBC’s new sintered race compounds, having already tested these on a few other vehicles.

“We started off the test day in the morning using another very well-respected pad compound used a lot in the touring car scene to get some baseline data and to get a feel for how the car performed on these pads at the same track, before we got into testing two new compounds.

“We then opted to fit the SR-11 compound pads and straight away we had a better pedal feel and more bite that allowed us to modulate the pedal nicely. This compound also offered improved weight transfer of the vehicle, which is a very important aspect on a vehicle like the Subaru.

“There was no pad wedging or uneven wear, and the disc wear was very low. It is also worth mentioning that we had no issues with heat or braking system temperatures. With this car being a fully-built race car with a pedal box and no servo, we thought we would go on to try the SR-21 compound next.”

“In the afternoon, we cleaned the discs up and fitted the SR-21 compound pads. We then went out for a few laps to bed in the brakes and make sure that the pads mated up to the discs correctly. After letting the Subaru cool as well as the braking system, we then went out and did a race-length session.

“Straight away, you could feel how much more initial bite and sharpness the SR-21 offered and as well as having bite that stayed stable throughout the whole session. This setup with the SR-21  gave us great modulation characteristics and a great pedal feel with virtually no bed-in time required, which is an ideal trait. These pads really suited the setup with the pedal box, and also mean that we aren’t going to have to change the master cylinder sizes as we previously thought we would, which is fantastic.

“The SR-21 pads were predictable from the get-go with no fade, thus allowing us to brake later (and in fact brake later than you would in a Touring Car at Donington), this gave us a lot of faith in the pads and again as with the SR-11 compound, really helped with the front-end grip and weight transfer of the car which is so important.

“As with the SR-11 pads, there was no uneven wear or pad wedging and the temperatures remained stable throughout the test as well as no undue disc wear. So far, this setup is the best the car has felt to date.

“We are really looking forward to the 2022 season as we have a lot planned and we look forward to continuing to work with 91´«Ã½ Racing as well as running the new SR-21 compound in our 2022 TCR campaign.â€�

Subaru WRX STI TCR – Spec List

ENGINE

Turbocharged 4-cylinder in line, transversally installed

Distribution: two overhead camshafts, 16 valves

Displacement: 1994 cc

Bore x stroke: 92 x 75 mm

Max. output 340hp @ 6800 rpm

Max. torque: 420nm @ 3300 rpm

Lubrication: Wet sump

TRANSMISSION

Front-wheel-drive

Gearbox: Modena Engineering 6-speed sequential with paddle shift

Clutch: Multi-disc oil cooled

Differential: Mechanical

DIMENSIONS

Length: 4645 mm

Width: 1930 mm

Wheelbase: 2650 mm

Target racing weight: 1265 kg including the driver (endurance 1250 kg)