*Double points on offer as WTCC’s official feeder series gears up for first street race
*Fulín and Richard in thrilling Super 2000 title fight, Mackschin tops S1600 Cup
*Portuguese drivers Fernandes and Mota out to impress WTCC team bosses
*Eurosport to broadcast both races live

The challenge never relents in the FIA European Touring Car Cup. Following its inaugural visit to the Nürburgring Nordschleife last month, the ETCC heads to Vila Real in northern Portugal later this week for a street racing festival with a difference.

Circuito Internacional de Vila Real, which has hosted motor racing since 1931, features a mix of tight turns, fast curves, climbs and descents, wide and narrow sections, high-speed blasts and variations in grip levels. Measuring 4.785 kilometres in length, the circuit winds its way through the picturesque town, meaning there’s quite simply no margin for error. And with live television coverage of both races on Eurosport and double championship points on offer, the stakes will be high as the ETCC tops the WTCC support bill for the fourth and final time in 2016.

Home hero Fábio Mota will be in the thick of the glory chase and the 28-year-old, who lives in Vila Nova de Gaia, 100 kilometres west of Vila Real, will be hoping his knowledge of the demanding layout will give him the edge when the ETCC returns to Portugal for the first time since Braga hosted the action in 2010. While none of his season-long ETCC rivals have competed there before, Mota has raced at Vila Real since racing returned in 2007.

“The circuit is amazing, fast and technical, and if you make a mistake you will pay the price, as it was possible to see last year in the WTCC,” said the Lema Racing SEAT driver. “Probably I’ll have some advantage from the knowledge that I have of the circuit, but the ETCC field has a very high driving standard and I believe that the drivers will adapt quickly to the track and race within the potential of their cars. I know I’ll have very hard opposition.”

Mota’s opposition includes current Super 2000 Cup leader and established ace Petr Fulín from Czech Republic (Křenek Motorsport SEAT) and 21-year-old Swiss hope Kris Richard, who pilots a Honda Civic for Rikli Motorsport. Fulín and Richard have three wins each from the opening six races with Fulín four points ahead of Richard in the title battle following last month’s Nürburgring Nordschleife double-header.

Swiss Peter Rikli partners Richard at his brother Erwin’s family-run team in a second TCN2-specification Honda. Countryman Christjohannes Schreiber, 27, was the polesitter in ETCC Race of Slovakia Ring and joins Fulín at Křenek Motorsport. Hungary’s Norbert Nagy (21) drives Zengő Motorsport SEAT and will be hoping to hit back from a frustrating Germany weekend when he crashed out of the opening race and was unable to start the second. Mladen Lalušić, 20 from Serbia, is contesting a full-season with Lein Racing after making selected ETCC appearances for the team in 2015, while Macedonia’s double FIA Hill Climb champion Igor Stefanovski completes the Lema Racing attack.

FERNANDES GETS HOME ETCC DEBUT: Manuel Fernandes will make his ETCC debut when the series visits his native Portugal this week. Driving a SEAT for the Speedy Motorsport team, Fernandes will chase ETCC Super 2000 Cup points as he bids for home glory.

ETCC SUPER 1600 CUP RIVALS GUN FOR MACKSCHIN: While 21-year-old GermanNiklas Mackschin has been doing the bulk of the winning in 2016 with four triumphs, his compatriots Kevin Hilgenhövel, Ulrike Krafft and Andreas Rinke have also impressed, as has 16-year-old Czech Tomáš Korený. However, Krafft won’t be racing in Vila Real, leaving Ukrainian Ksenia Niks unchallenged in the battle for ETCC Ladies’ Cup points. Daniel Niermann made his ETCC debut in France and scored his season-best results on home soil in Germany.

BIG YEAR FOR ETCC: It’s a big year for the ETCC with a new two-tiered structure in place to streamline the competition. The headlining Super 2000 Cup is for the FIA’s new TCN2 category, plus the TC2T, TC2 and Single Make Trophy class, while the Super 1600 Cup caters for cars such as Ford’s Fiesta and Peugeot’s 207. And there are two big prizes at stake with the S2000 champion winning a WTCC race weekend in 2017, while the S1600 champion gets a test in a new-generation TCN2 car.

RULES REFRESHER: While the results of Qualifying will determine the grid order for Race 1, the results of the first race will decide the starting grid for Race 2, albeit with the top eight finishers lining up in reverse order. In Vila Real, S2000 Cup and the S1600 Cup competitors will score points as follows: fastest three drivers in qualifying: 6-4-2. The top eight finishers in each class in each race will score: 20-16-12-10-8-6-4-2. A race-by-race prize fund of €25,000, jointly awarded by tyre partner Yokohama, will be split between S2000 and S1600 competitors.

PROVISIONAL KEY TIMINGS:  Thursday 23 June: 13h30-14h00: Media round table with Manuel Fernandes and Fábio Mota (Media Centre); 14h45-17h15: Driver parade and autograph session (Vila Real) Friday 24 June: 09h00-09h45: Testing 1; 14h15-15h00: Testing 2 Saturday 25 June: 09h55-10h40: Free Practice; 16h20-16h50: Qualifying; 17h00: Post-Qualifying press conference (Media Centre) Sunday 26 June:10h20: ETCC Race of Vila Real Race 1 (11 laps, rolling start); 11h30: ETCC Race of Vila Real Race 2 (11 laps, standing start); 12h10: Race 1 and Race 2 podiums; 12h25: Post-Race 1 and Race 2 press conference (Media Centre) Timings provisional and subject to change

EUROSPORT TV SCHEDULE: Eurosport 2 will broadcast both races live at 11h15 and 12h30 CET on Sunday 26 June. Both races will also be streamed live at FIAETCC.com.

ETCC STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 6/12: Super 2000: 1 Fulín 48; 2 Richard 44; 3 Rikli 37; 4 Lalušić, Nagy and Schreiber 20; etc. Super 1600: 1 Mackschin 55; 2 Rinke 38; 3 Krafft 32; 4 Korený 23; 5 Andrii Ievtushenko and Niermann 16; etc. (Full standings:https://www.fiaetcc.com/standings/)

ETCC CALENDAR 2016: 1-3 April 2016: Circuit Paul Ricard (France); 15-17 April 2016: Slovakia Ring (Slovakia); 26-28 May 2016: Nürburgring Nordschleife (Germany); 24-26 June 2016: Circuito Internacional de Vila Real (Portugal) S; 8-10 July 2016: Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours (France)*; 30 September-2 October 2016: Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola (Italy)** S=street race; * =GT Tour support race; ** =FIA European F3, GT Tour support race