Focus on: Mike Halder, #6 in the ranking

Mike Halder is one of the top drivers in the TCR World Ranking after a strong campaign in TCR Europe in 2022, which he undertook alongside a phenomenal campaign in TCR Denmark, finishing as runner-up in his first year in the series with seven victories over the course of the season. 
His high performance means he’s currently placed sixth in the ranking, just behind last year’s TCR Europe champion Franco Girolami.
One of the keys to his front-running pace and consistency was the opportunity to use the same car, the JAS Motorsport-developed Honda Civic Type R FK7 in both competitions.
“I have my own team, and a really good set of mechanics behind me who were able to join me in both series,”said Halder. “The team I drove for in TCR Denmark was TPR Motorsport, and I was able to drive the same car in both series, just switching the gearbox and the engine – which was a lot of work each time, but with a good team I was able to do it. It was great as it meant I had the same feeling in the car every time.”

After five years in TCR Germany, Halder has raced for two seasons in TCR Europe (2020 and 2022), won the TCR Spain title in 2021, and added TCR Denmark to his scorecard last year, and so has a mix of series behind him.
“I like racing in other series, though they are often very similar, just with different people,” he explained. “Every national series circuit has its own character, which is nice to experience. Denmark is very different to the Europe or German series, as the circuits are much smaller, that’s everything - the track, the paddock, so as a driver it meant I needed to change my driving style a little bit.”

On the creation of the new TCR World Ranking, Halder said:
“It was a good thing to make the TCR World Ranking. As a driver, I don’t have the budget to compete at the TCR World Tour level, but I think we have the speed to be in front of all the series – national or international. Whether I’m racing in TCR Europe, or a national series, the challenge is always to find the budget for me and my sister Michelle. So as the first 45 of the ranking will go to the TCR World Ranking Final and drive there for a ‘world champion of TCR’ title, as a driver with limited budget, it’s a great opportunity – as it means we have the possibility to compete in TCR Europe and Denmark and to be in the final and to be a world champion.”

One of the challenges Halder experienced in 2022 was a calendar clash, when TCR Europe raced at the Nürburgring in late August, while TCR Denmark was taking place at Jyllandsringen on the same weekend. With the title within his grasp in TCR Denmark, the German driver opted to drive at Jyllandsringen and skip his home race, although he was actually able to get back to spectate for the only race held on Sunday afternoon after the fog that had disrupted the weekend had cleared.
“It was difficult to decide in which to race,” he said. “Obviously I’m at home on the Nürburgring, and I thought I could be very successful there, but as I also had a chance to win the championship in TCR Denmark, I chose to take part in the Danish weekend. After the fog appeared in TCR Europe, it turned out to be the right decision, rather than be waiting around for the skies to clear at the Nürburgring.”

Halder and his sister Michelle’s programmes for 2023 are still to be finalised. After coming so close to winning the Danish title last year, Halder will return with the Swedish TPR Motorsport team, now using a new Audi RS 3 LMS, while he also hopes again to compete in TCR Europe.
“I’ll drive in TCR Denmark again with TPR Motorsport, and with my team we hope to do TCR Europe again, so our homework at the moment is to find the budget. TPR has switched to Audi. It’s open to what manufacturer I could race in TCR Europe. It could also be the Audi, but I’m in discussion at the moment about options, as I’d also like to drive the new Honda in TCR Europe – but at the moment we need to work on all the other elements to put together a programme, and hopefully be ready for the trip to Portimão.”

Picture: TCR Europe