Geely becomes the third Chinese marque in TCR

Geely Preface TCR concept image. Photo: Cyan Racing

Following the season finale of the 2025 Kumho FIA TCR World Tour, a new brand has been confirmed as preparing a car for 2026, with Geely itself making its appearance next year.

Geely Auto is the primary brand of the Zhejiang Geely Holding group, a manufacturer with a very short automotive history, but a fast-moving one in China.

The parent company, Geely Holding, acquired Swedish manufacturer Volvo in 2010, and Malaysian marque Proton in 2017, and therefore prestige sports car brand Lotus in the process.

Through its ownership of Volvo, it of course owns the Polestar EV sub-brand, and launched its own standalone marque Lynk & Co in 2016.

Geely Group chose Lynk & Co to launch its motorsport initiative in 2019, entering the second year of the WTCR - FIA World Touring Car Cup, winning the teams’ title on its first attempt with cars run by Cyan Racing, and built by Geely Group Motorsport, while it narrowly missed out on the drivers’ title in its first year.

Two drivers’ titles followed in 2020 and 2021 for Yann Ehrlacher, and in Macau, Ehrlacher secured his third title and his first in the new Kumho FIA TCR World Tour era, just days before it was confirmed that Cyan Racing would be building and racing a new car in 2026, the Geely Preface, or Xingrui as its known in its native China.

The Geely Auto brand has barely a 40 year history, and has primarily remained in China while using Volvo and then later Lynk & Co to expand into other markets, but as the China car bubble continues to explore, particularly in the EV market, the group is taking Geely Auto international, hence the decision to also have the brand represented at the top level of touring car competition from 2026.

The Preface is a larger car. A four-door saloon, it will be the second D-segment TCR car after the MG 6 XPOWER TCR, with all of the other cars so far having been in the C-segment, whether they be hatchback or saloons.

“I’m very much looking forward to its participation in next year’s races,” said WSC president Marcello Lotti. “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.”

“We are very excited to bring the Geely Preface to international competition and to continue our cooperation with Cyan Racing,” added Alexander Murdzevski Schedvin, Head of Geely Group Motorsport. “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.”

The car will make its debut when the 2026 season gets underway in Mexico City on April 23-25 next year, just over four months away.

What does this mean for Lynk & Co in TCR?

Lynk & Co 03+ TCR concept image. Photo: Lynk & Co China

The switch for Geely Group Motorsport’s programme from Lynk & Co to Geely Auto has seen a change in the plan for Lynk & Co, which is set to continue on in a different form from 2026.

Lynk & Co China will continue the initiative with a new development team building what is effectively the third iteration of the car, the Lynk & Co 03+ TCR, named for the performance variant of the car, with Gusto Engineering taking on the development of the car.

Gusto, headed by Alex Hui, who as team principal turned around the struggling 333 Racing team (later CUPRA Kiro team) in the FIA Formula E World Championship into race winners in a short three-year timeframe, has worked closely with Geely Group Motorsport in recent years. Mainly through its associated racing team Teamwork Motorsport, which has won titles in TCR Asia and TCR China since switching from Audi Sport to Lynk & Co in 2020, and has a history of developing racing cars in China, especially during the China Touring Car Championship's multi-manufacturer Super Cup era, in which it was the primary parts builder and designer behind cars such as the Ford Focus, the SAIC Volkswagen Lamando, and Kia K3.

The new Lynk & Co 03+ TCR will mark a change in strategy, from world title-fighting programme to a more customer-focussed and cost effective approach, in-line with the racing programmes of the higher volume TCR sellers JAS Motorsport, with the Honda Civic Type R FL5 TCR, and the Volkswagen Group, with its Audi RS 3 LMS gen II and CUPRA Leon VZ TCR models.

The car is expected to make its debut in the TCR China championship next year with Teamwork Motorsport set to defend its titles with the car, but could appear in other markets with the plan to become a high volume seller in Asia, the Americas, and Europe.

Lynk & Co 03+ TCR. Photo: Lynk & Co China