World Touring Car Championship

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World Touring Car Championship
200px
Category Touring cars
Region International
Inaugural season 1987
Drivers 25 (2015)
Teams 11 (2015)
Constructors
Engine suppliers 1.6 litre Turbocharged
Tyre suppliers Yokohama
Drivers' champion José María López
Makes' champion Citroën
Official website fiawtcc.com
Motorsport current event.svg Current season

The FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) is an international Touring Car championship sanctioned by the FIA. It has had several different incarnations over the years, including a single season in 1987, a World Touring Car Cup held between 1993 and 1995 and most recently a world championship that has run since 2005. Citroën Total driver José María López from Argentina is 2015's WTCC reigning champion.

History

First season

The first World Touring Car Championship season, which was open to Group A Touring Cars, was held in 1987 concurrent to the long-running European Touring Car Championship (ETCC). Additional rounds were held outside Europe at Bathurst and Calder Park Raceway in Australia (using a combined circuit of the road course and the then newly constructed NASCAR speedway), Wellington in New Zealand and Mount Fuji in Japan. The Championship was well-supported, but embroiled in controversy. The championship was provisionally awarded to West German Eggenberger Motorsport Ford Sierra RS500 drivers Klaus Ludwig and Klaus Niedzwiedz. It was not until the following year that results were confirmed and Italian Schnitzer Motorsport driver Roberto Ravaglia in a BMW M3 was declared the champion. The Entrants Championship was won by the Eggenberger Texaco Ford No 7 entry. The WTCC lasted only one year and was a victim of its own success — the FIA (and Bernie Ecclestone) feared it would take money away from Formula 1 and stopped sanctioning the Championship.[citation needed] A silhouette formula championship was announced by the FIA for 1988 which would have seen specialist racing chassis carrying bodywork resembling production roadcars powered by the about to be outlawed Formula One 1.5 litre turbo regulations, but manufacturers did not support the concept, only one car, based on an Alfa Romeo 164 was built before it was abandoned.

World Touring Car Cup

In 1993, with the high popularity of the Supertouring category, the FIA hosted the FIA World Touring Car Cup — an annual event for touring car drivers hailing from national championships all over the world. The 1993 race at Monza was won by Paul Radisich, at the wheel of a Ford Mondeo ahead of Nicola Larini's Alfa Romeo 155, with no manufacturer title awarded. The race was run for two more years, (won by Paul Radisich again in 1994 at Donington Park in a Ford Mondeo, manufacturer title went to BMW, and Frank Biela in 1995 at Paul Ricard in an Audi A4 Quattro, and manufacturer title went to Audi). A similar event was planned for 1996 at the A1 Ring, Austria, but was cancelled due to a low number of provisional entries (10 cars). It was never brought back thereafter.

European Touring Car Championship

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In 2001, the European Touring Car Championship (ETCC) was resumed with support from the FIA, the precursor to the current WTCC. In 2001, the Italian Superturismo Championship became the FIA European Super Touring Championship, with an extra class for Super Production cars alongside the main Super Touring class. In 2002, this evolved into the brand new FIA European Touring Car Championship, using Super 2000 rules, dominated by Alfa Romeo and BMW, but popular with the public due to the intense competition and Eurosport live broadcasts.

Return to World Championship Status

At the request of interested manufacturers, the ETCC was changed to the current WTCC beginning with the 2005 season, continuing to use Super 2000 and Diesel 2000 regulations. 2004 ETCC Champion Andy Priaulx and his BMW 320i were the dominant driver-car pairing during the first three years of the revived championship, winning the 2005, 2006 and 2007 Drivers and Manufacturers Championships.

In 2008, Frenchman Yvan Muller won the title after Race 1 in Macau in his SEAT León TDI. This marked the first time an FIA sanctioned world championship, in any category, being won by a diesel powered racing car. SEAT León TDI won both championships for a second time in 2009, this time in the hands of Gabriele Tarquini.

Race start at the 2012 FIA WTCC Race of Japan.

2010 marked the start of Chevrolet's dominance of the championship with its Cruze model. Frenchman Yvan Muller became World Champion, fending off tough competition from Gabriele Tarquini and Andy Priaulx to win the first world championship for Chevrolet. Muller continued his success into 2011, winning both drivers championship and helping Chevrolet to its second manufacturers championship after Muller's two teammates finished second and third in the drivers standings. This gave Chevrolet a clean sweep of both titles. The 2012 championship saw Chevrolet pick up where they left of in 2011, leading to a second year of championship clean sweeps, this time with Rob Huff taking the drivers title.

The modern series has held events based all around the world including races in Argentina, Morocco, Hungary, Germany, Russia, France, Portugal, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Japan, China, Thailand and Qatar with former races in Brazil, Great Britain, Italy, Macau, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United States.

Car regulations

The WTCC uses Super 2000 and Diesel 2000 cars, as cost control is a major theme in the technical regulation. Engines are limited to 2.0 liter. Many technologies that have featured in production cars are not allowed, including variable valve timing, variable intake geometry, ABS brakes and traction control system.

Scoring system

Current scoring system

Currently, all WTCC races are awarded equal points. From 2010, these points have been based on the FIA's points system used in the FIA Formula One Championship and the FIA World Rally Championship.[1]

Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   9th   10th 
Points 25 18 15 12 10 8 6 4 2 1

Previous points systems

Between 2005 and 2009, the championship adopted the following points scoring system:

Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th 
Points 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1

During the World Touring Car Cup era, points were awarded to top 20 finishers as follows:

Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   9th   10th   11th   12th   13th   14th   15th   16th   17th   18th   19th   20th 
Points 40 30 24 20 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For the inaugural 1987 season, the championship used the following points scoring system:

Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   9th   10th 
Points 20 15 12 10 6 5 4 3 2 1

Champions

World Touring Car Championship
Drivers' Champions Entrants' Champions Independents' Trophy winners
Year Driver Team Car Manufacturer Car Driver Team Car
1987 Italy Roberto Ravaglia Germany Schnitzer Motorsport BMW M3 Switzerland Eggenberger Motorsport
No. 7
Ford Sierra RS Cosworth
Ford Sierra RS 500
Not Held
World Touring Car Cup
Drivers' Champions Entrants' Champions Nations Champions
Year Driver Team Car Manufacturer Nation
1993 New Zealand Paul Radisich United Kingdom Ford Team Mondeo Ford Mondeo Not Held  Italy
1994 New Zealand Paul Radisich United Kingdom Ford Team Mondeo Ford Mondeo Germany BMW  Germany
1995 Germany Frank Biela France Racing Organisation Course Audi A4 Quattro Germany Audi Not Held
World Touring Car Championship
Drivers' Champions Manufacturers' Champions Independents' Trophy winners
Year Driver Team Car Manufacturer Car Driver Team Car
2005 United Kingdom Andy Priaulx United Kingdom BMW Team UK BMW 320i Germany BMW BMW 320i Germany Marc Hennerici Germany Wiechers-Sport BMW 320i
2006 United Kingdom Andy Priaulx United Kingdom BMW Team UK BMW 320si Germany BMW BMW 320si Netherlands Tom Coronel Hong Kong GR Asia SEAT León
2007 United Kingdom Andy Priaulx United Kingdom BMW Team UK BMW 320si Germany BMW BMW 320si Italy Stefano D'Aste Germany Wiechers-Sport BMW 320si
2008 France Yvan Muller Spain SEAT Sport SEAT León TDI Spain SEAT SEAT León TDI Spain Sergio Hernández Italy Proteam Motorsport BMW 320si
2009 Italy Gabriele Tarquini Spain SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI Spain SEAT SEAT León 2.0 TDI Netherlands Tom Coronel Spain SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TFSI
2010 France Yvan Muller United Kingdom Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze LT United States Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT Spain Sergio Hernández Italy Proteam Motorsport BMW 320si
2011 France Yvan Muller United Kingdom Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T United States Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Denmark Kristian Poulsen Germany Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC
2012 United Kingdom Robert Huff United Kingdom Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T United States Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Hungary Norbert Michelisz Hungary Zengő Motorsport BMW 320 TC
2013 France Yvan Muller United Kingdom RML Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Japan Honda Honda Civic WTCC United Kingdom James Nash United Kingdom bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T
2014 Argentina José María López France Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCC France Citroën Citroën C-Elysée WTCC Germany Franz Engstler Germany Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC
2015 Argentina José María López France Citroën Total WTCC Citroën C-Elysée WTCC France Citroën Citroën C-Elysée WTCC Hungary Norbert Michelisz Hungary Zengõ Motorsport Honda Civic WTCC
Driver Manufacturer
Rank Driver Championships Seasons Rank Manufacturer Championships Seasons
1st France Yvan Muller 4 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013 1st Germany BMW 3 2005, 2006, 2007
2nd United Kingdom Andy Priaulx 3 2005, 2006, 2007 = United States Chevrolet 3 2010, 2011, 2012
3rd Argentina José María López 2 2014, 2015 3rd Spain SEAT 2 2008, 2009
4th Italy Roberto Ravaglia 1 1987 = France Citroën 2 2014, 2015
= Italy Gabriele Tarquini 1 2009 5th Japan Honda 1 2013
= United Kingdom Robert Huff 1 2012

Event Winners

World Touring Car Championship

World Touring Car Cup

See also

References

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  • Autosport, January 14, 1988

External links