Another Chinese brand seeking starlight at the TCR World Tour, Geely takes it from Lynk & Co

The next time the Kumho FIA ​​TCR World Tour takes on the Guia circuit (in November 2026), the world champion car (Lynk & Co 03 TCR) will not be on the entry list.

This will happen as the Geely Automobile Group announced on Friday at the Guangzhou Auto Show that the very successful Lynk & Co 03 will be replaced this year by another brand from the same Chinese automobile group.

According to the news, Geely is preparing to launch its Preface TCR model, marking the debut of another Chinese brand in touring cars and beginning a new chapter for the Geely brand in the global motorsport scene.

The Geely Preface (Xingrui for the Chinese market) is available as both an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) and a hybrid. It is based on the Compact Modular Architecture (CMA) platform, a flexible automobile platform jointly developed by Geely and Volvo.

This unibody platform was designed to be scalable and adaptable across different vehicle types, including sedans, SUVs, and coupes, and to support powertrains such as ICE, mild hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and fully electric vehicles.

The CMA platform was the top-selling A-segment (compact city car) ICE sedan in China in 2024.

On the novelty, Victor Yang, Senior Vice President of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, said, “This is an important milestone for Geely, which is our first and largest domestic brand founded in 1997, and it is now expanding internationally.”

Yang added, “We believe that the TCR World Tour is an ideal way to showcase the Geely car brand, its products, and its technology to car fans and consumers around the world.”

As the Geely Preface car is now under development for the TCR regulations, Geely has opted to continue its cooperation with Cyan Racing. This team previously ran the factory Lynk & Co 03.

On the matter, Alexander Murdzevski Schedvin, Head of Geely Group Motorsport division, said, “We are very excited to bring the Geely Preface to international competition and to continue our cooperation with Cyan Racing. Cyan Racing will act as the development team for the new car, and it will also field the Geely Preface car in the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour from the 2026 season as team Geely Cyan Racing.”

On the news, Marcello Lotti, Chairman of the WSC Group and owner of the FIA ​​TCR World Touring rights, commented, “I’m very much looking forward to its participation in next year’s races. Geely has consistently performed exceptionally well in the highest level of touring car racing. I can’t wait to see the Preface on the track.”

The Preface TCR race car is scheduled to start testing in early 2026 and participate in the opening event of the 2026 Kumho FIA TCR World Tour.

Macau to retain ‘season finale’

Although the 2026 TCR World Tour calendar has not yet been officially released, during the last Macau Grand Prix week, Lotti confirmed that Macau will continue on the calendar for 2026 and retain the honors of “season finale.”

The official calendar will only be revealed after the upcoming meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council, which will gather in Uzbekistan on December 13 to discuss this and many other aspects of the forthcoming motorsport season.

Lotti not only confirmed that Macau will be in the calendar but also that the 2026 season will have an expanded Asian leg with events in South Korea and China.

To the media, Lotti said, “The teams asked us to extend the Asian part of the championship so that we will have two rounds in South Korea, two in China, and then Macau.”

“In total, we are looking at eight events for next year, starting in Mexico and then having three events in Europe,” he remarked, adding, “We would then move to Asia, with one race in South Korea, two in China, and Macau to close the season.”