FIA World Touring Car Cup or “WTCR presented by OSCARO” is the updated name of the international championship (cup) of the world road racing, formerly known under the acronym WTCC. The decision to introduce a new touring world championship was made on December 6, 2017, during the FIA World Consortium in Paris. The reason was the transition to the TCR regulation.
FROM WTCC TO WTCR
The transformation of the series affected not only the rules, but also the official name of the competition. Now the racing series is called "Touring World Cup". These changes mark the start of a new era in international touring racing. Having decided on the transformation of the WTCC, the organizers are counting on increasing the interest of potential participants in the competition. The fact is that the previous set of rules required quite large expenses. Because of this, healthy competition between riders was out of the question. The organizers plan to increase the pool of fans of the series by improving the format of the racing weekend.
WORLD TOURING CAR CUP REGULATIONS
The WTCR rules provide for a new race weekend format consisting of:
- two free practices;
- qualifications;
- three races (only 2 were held in the WTCC).
THE FIRST DAY
On the first day of the race weekend, pilots will have 2 free practices lasting 30 minutes. After their completion, the qualifying session begins, the duration of which is also 30 minutes. A feature of the new rules will be the holding of the race already on the opening day of the racing weekend, in which the top ten finishers will score points.
SECOND DAY
The second competition day follows the rules of the WTCC, providing for a three-phase qualifying run, following which the start list for the second race is formed. The originality of the second race is the formation of a "reverse starting grid". This means that the slowest riders are in the first positions, and the leaders of the second day qualifying start from the back of the peloton.
At the end of the weekend, the third race in the combined order is held after the 3-phase qualification of the second day. Initially, the WTCR had a limit of 26 cars (as of 2019, 30). Thanks to this, the organizers plan to create an excellent combination of fast professionals and capable private traders who can often surprise. Thanks to the new rules, WTCR will be able to delight fans with the victories of riders on machines without full factory support. However, the first race in the new format was won by the Italian Gabriele Tarquini of the BRC Racing Team.
POINTS AND WTCR SCORING SYSTEM
Pilots participating in the updated Touring World Cup can expect to receive points in all three races, as well as in the second qualification. The greatest number of points in the overall standings brings victory in the third race - 30 points. In the second race, the winner gets 27 points, in the first - 25. In all races, the first 10 pilots can get points. The WTCR also provides for the promotion of the victors of the second qualification. Points are given to the first 5 pilots (1st place - 5 points, 2nd place -4, etc.).
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | 15th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race 1 | 30 | 23 | 19 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Race 2 | 25 | 20 | 16 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Qualifying | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 |
CLASSES AND VEHICLES USED IN WORLD TOURING CAR CUP
In accordance with the TCR technical regulations, front-wheel drive 4 and 5-door sports sedans or hatchbacks take part in the cup. These "sports cars" can be equipped with a turbocharged engine from 1750 to 2000 cc. sm. The maximum power of the cars in this racing series reaches 350 hp.
Participants in the first WTCR championship used the following cars:
- Hyundai i30N;
- Peugeot 308;
- CUPRA Leon;
- Honda Civic Type R;
- Alfa Romeo Giulietta;
- Volkswagen Golf GTI;
- Audi RS 3 LMS.
HANDICAP (BALLAST)
The new World Tourning Car Cup rules penalize drivers for using a sports sequential gearbox. The penalty is to assign weight ballast (similar to "Super GT"). Another technical limitation concerns the engine, the power of which should not exceed 350 hp. At the same time, the fastest cars that showed the best results in the previous stage are still upset by a handicap. The maximum weight of the ballast is 30 kg.
WORLD TOURING CAR CUP FEATURES
The main feature of the WTCR is the presence of two "wild cards", which the promoters of each stage can use at their discretion. Such an innovation is the right move, which is reminiscent of the glory days of "Super2000". Then the leaders of the national series got the opportunity to join the main peloton of the World Cup. Due to this, the results of the races sometimes became completely unpredictable.
FREQUENT CONTACTS (COLLISIONS)
This car racing world cup has a fairly large number of collisions. According to statistics, during the first season due to contact during the race, about 20% of the drivers did not finish. What is interesting about this series of races are both accidents at the start and collisions on the final laps.
REGIONS
Races of the first WTCR season were held in North Africa, Eastern and Western Europe and Asia. The calendar, formed in accordance with the requirements of the FIA World Motor Sport Council and ASN, provided for 10 stages in Morocco, Hungary, Germany, Holland, Portugal, Slovakia, China (2 stages), Japan and Macau.
SPECIFICITY OF CALENDAR ROUTES
The 2018 calendar provided for the holding of several stages of the Touring World Cup on Formula 1 tracks. The races took place at the Hungarian Hungaroring, the German Nürburgring and the Japanese Suzuka.
The race in Wuhan, China took place on city streets. The second Chinese stage, held on the territory of the international airport of the city of Ningbo in Zhejiang province, turned out to be original. Initially, the creators of this track planned to hold Formula 1 competitions there, but the investments of the automaker Geely were not enough to build a competitive track. Therefore, at the moment, the main competitions in Ningbo are the WTCR races.
VIP CLUB
Motorsport fans who wish to spend their race weekend at the World Touring Car Cup in maximum comfort can take advantage of the VIP CLUB service, which provides exclusive access behind the scenes of motorsport. VIP guests have the opportunity to meet the pilots, visit the starting grid before the start of the race and share the emotions of the competition winners. In addition, members of the "VIP Club" can count on a tour to the boxes of any of the participating teams. VIP pass holders will also enjoy a premium leisure program that includes free access to the bar and restaurant.
PROMOTION
The World Touring Car Cup is promoted by Eurosport Events. This corporation provides the organization of live broadcasts on the popular Eurosport TV channel and the provision of advertising resources that provide the maximum benefit to the participants of this racing series. Eurosport Events' social media marketing and advertising power is also used to promote the WTCR.
TOP TEAM
According to the results of the last season, the best teams of the auto racing series were:
- M Racing-YMR (France);
- BRC Racing (Italy);
- ALL-INKL.COM (Germany);
- Sebastien Loeb (France);
- Leopard Lukoil WRT (Luxembourg);
- Team Comtoyou (Belgium);
- Team Oscaro by Campos (Spain).
LEOPARD LUKOIL WRT
Leopard Lukoil Team WRT deserves special attention. As the name implies, the title sponsor of the team is the Russian company Lukoil. It is represented by Frenchman Jean-Carl Vernet and Briton Gordon Shedden. Pilots of the "stable" performed last season on Audi RS 3 LMS TCR cars.
The Leopard Lukoil Team WRT riders managed to achieve 5 victories at the World Cup stages. 4 wins on account of Vernet (Morocco, Holland, Wuhan, Macau). One victory went to Shedden (Wuhan). At the end of the 2018 season, Vernet took 5th place in the overall standings, Shedden - 13th.
TOP PILOTS
- Gabriel Tarquini
According to the results of the first season, the Italian Gabriele Tarquini from the BRC Racing Team became the best pilot. He was only 3 points ahead of the Frenchman M Racing-YMR's Müller. It is worth noting that Tarquini is one of the most experienced pilots in the Tring World Cup. The 56-year-old Italian began his performances in motorsport back in 1983. He even has one race in Formula 1 to his credit. At the 1995 European Grand Prix, Tarquini replaced the injured Katayama Yukio, the pilot of the Tyrrell Racing Organization. The victory in WTCR-2018 was not the first for this Italian. He previously won the BTCC (1994), ETCC (2003) and WTCC (2009) championships.
- Ivan Muller
France's Ivan Muller, who finished second, is also an experienced pilot. He has 4 wins in the WTCC overall standings (2008, 2010, 2011, 2013).
- Ted Bjork
Another rider worthy of note is Swede Ted Björk. It was he who won the first pole position in WTCR history. However, in the overall standings, the 37-year-old Swedish rider finished only seventh. It should be noted that it was Ted who became the last winner of the WTCC 2017.
- Mato Homola
One of the sensations of the new season was the Slovak Mato Gomola. Despite the 18th final place, the Slovak rider managed to be remembered for a bright victory at the Portuguese stage of the series.
