Giacomo Prandelli will be back behind the wheel at AIKOA Racing for the 2026 TCR Europe Touring Car Series, after making his series debut at the 2025 season finale at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, which was also his first time racing a sequential gearbox car.

The Italian driver scored points on his series debut in a third Audi RS 3 LMS gen II, and he'll back this year as one of the team's two drivers, with the second driver to be confirmed at a later date.

Prandelli had previously only raced the DSG-equipped first-generation Audi in the TCR Italy championship,

"I'm feeling very positive, considering everything is still very new to me," said Prandelli.

"I enjoyed my debut in Barcelona last year and having the chance to race around one of the most famous circuits in the world. I had a great feeling with the car straight away, but I know I still have more to learn, and I know it's going to be a challenge racing the full year in TCR Europe where the driver level is very high.

"We're working on building a solid foundation; the aim is so start strong right from the beginning and show we have good pace. We'll give it our all and get our heads down."

AIKOA Racing added TCR Europe to its programmes last year after successfully winning the drivers' title in 2023 in TCR Italy with two-time TCR Europe champion Franco Girolami. In its maiden TCR Europe season last season the team scored 17 points finishes across the course of the campaign.

The team will again field the competitive Audi RS 3 LMS, which won more races than any other marque last year in the series.