You hear the noise of engines in El Calafate and boy is it relevant news.
Not because a new season of
Road Tourism
is about to begin but because 2024
is not going to be just another one
.
It will be marked in the history of the highest category of local motorsports due to the generational change of cars.
It is true that the Falcon, the Dodge, the Torino and the Chevy will still be on the asphalt, but near the Perito Moreno glacier the news is that the circuit will dress up to officially welcome the new
Chevrolet Camaro
,
Ford Mustang and
Dodge Challenger
, and the modifications of the
Torino
and
Toyota Camry
, many of which were testing on the La Plata and San Nicolás circuits.
Christian Ledesma's Chevrolet Camaro during car testing (chledesmaok in X)
Both classic cars and new generation cars will share the track since, due to budget issues, not all those registered for this season were able to assemble the modern chassis.
What's more, most of the racers will use, at least at the beginning of the competition, the classic cars of the category.
The drivers who will drive the new generation cars are Christian Ledesma, Ricardo Risatti and Marcos Quijada (Camaro), the current champion Mariano Werner, Juan Bautista De Benedictis and Nicolás Trosett (Mustang), Tobías Martínez (Torino), Juan Martín Trucco ( Challenger NG) and Andrés Jakos and Gastón Ferrante with the new Toyota Camry with the new generation updates.
This year the Road Tourism has
fewer entries
, because not all the drivers were able to obtain the budget that is usually needed to race in this very popular category.
In 2024 there will be
43 pilots
, ten less than last year.
And in the TC Pista, the opening category of the TC, 37 drivers will compete.
Season 2024 ✔️ WE ARE READY AND THIS IS THE FORD WE ARE GOING TO RACE THIS YEAR.
pic.twitter.com/qQnVrN2SST
— MANU URCERA (@manurcera) February 21, 2024
Gabriel Ponce de León, in fact, will not be able to compete on the inaugural date because he did not manage to raise the budget to make the trip to the Santa Cruz circuit.
The Juninense participated in 11 of the 15 races in 2023.
The one who will debut in the TC is Agustín Martínez, the son of Omar, the "Gurí", a historical figure in the category.
He was runner-up in the TC Pista, will start in Ford and then will get into a Toyota Camry.
Tobías Martínez, Facundo Chapur, Lautaro De La Iglesia and Sebastián Abella will also debut in the top category.
Although there are few new cars that will be on the track, after the tests carried out by the drivers and teams in La Plata and San Nicolás there is already data that is useful for motorsport fans in general and TC in particular to know what They are going to meet this weekend.
The Mustang was shown to be the most balanced vehicle
in the analysis of downforce and drag through the air.
It will use a 120 millimeter
splitter
in the front axle .
Mariano Werner on top of the Ford Mustang with which he will seek to defend the title (ACTC in X)
The Camaro presented the best front load values
and will have the
100mm
splitter .
As a counterpart, in the rear area it had to be compensated with a
gurney
-type element to increase air support.
The new generation Toyota Camry received the category's permission for the
120mm
splitter , but at the same time the same
gurney
as the bow model.
The Dodge Challenger, as was already known, is the vehicle in which the most work was going to have to be done to match values.
It will have a 150mm
splitter
to improve front aerodynamic load, added to the variants of the radiator air outlet ducts, although it showed a rear load that was evaluated as acceptable.
These Dodge Challengers will not have their specifications defined, since the dimensions that the air inlet and outlet must have will be defined as the dates advance in the calendar, while in the other cars the maximum measurement that they will have is 750mm x 130mm .
The Torino ACTC, as the new era of this car will be called, has everything to show starting at the El Calafate racetrack, where it will make its first contact on the track, since the model was presented in the last few hours.
For now, it will start the weekend with a
100mm
splitter , the same one that the Chevrolet Camaro will have.
The Torino ACTC that Tobias Martinez will drive in the team workshop during the presentation of the model (Trotta Racing Press)
The wings of these new and challenging cars will be homologated and supplied by the ACTC, as indicated from the beginning.
They are of a monoplane type with a leakage location that must be 1,285mm with respect to the rear axle, 1,000mm with respect to the floor of the car and the famous
endplate
will measure 310mm x 220mm.
Juan Martín Trucco aboard the only Dodge Challenger that there will be at the moment (ACTC in X)
El Calafate, which entered the calendar last year, was chosen by the Road Tourism Corridors Association as the setting that gives the green light to the season.
Although the complete schedule has not yet been confirmed, it is known which provinces and cities the pilots will visit until the seventh date.
TC AND TC PISTA 2024 CALENDAR 🏁
The first 7️⃣ dates of the #TCRUSChampionship and the #TCPistaRUSChampionship confirmed 🗓️🔥 pic.twitter.com/xaeWA0dpYT
— ACTC Highway Tourism (@actcargentina) February 16, 2024
After El Calafate, the second date will be on March 17 in Viedma and the third date, on April 7 in Neuquén.
The fourth race will take place on April 28 in Toay, La Pampa, and the fifth date will be at the Termas de Rio Hondo racetrack, on May 12.
That will be a special date for the category, since it will share the stage with National Tourism.
The sixth date will be held in Concepción del Uruguay on May 26 and the seventh will be held at the legendary Rafaela circuit, the temple of speed.
The 17th edition of the Gold Cup will begin on September 15, while the next four races of the tournament are scheduled for September 29, October 20, November 10 and December 1, with no venues confirmed so far. .
Not only are the changes in car models new, but there will also be modifications in Public TV broadcasts.
Starting this year, the Saturday classifications will be broadcast on that open channel and on DeporTV from 3 to 5 p.m. And on Sundays the broadcasts will begin at 10 a.m. and end at 2 p.m. on Public TV.
ACTC MEDIA TV 2024 TRANSMISSIONS
Schedules and screens for ACTC MEDIA TV broadcasts on @TV_Publica and @canaldeportv starting next weekend.@actcargentina @prensatn@TurismoPista pic.twitter.com/GIC8p2txqJ
— Tribuna Deportiva (@TribunaDeporOK) February 19, 2024