Full Grid for the World Touring Car Cup 2018
It was only recently announced that the formerly known WTCC series would collaborate with the TCR series. It became clear that the WTCC series became very expensive for manufacturers and also for privateers. Only in the last couple of years there was the split made between TC1 and TC2 cars in order to have enough cars on the grid to be interesting for TV. But the TC2 grid was around 5 cars, and the TC1 car was only competitive if run by a manufacturer. The TC2 (less powerful) cars were in the end taken from the championship, which forced the drivers to upgrade to the much more expensive TC1 cars. With only a few manufacturers left it became a bit of a single sided championship the last years, and could no longer be seen as a true world touring car championship. Only Citroen, Honda, Volvo and a few year before that Chevrolet were competing in the TC1. Only two brands were left in 2017; Volvo and Honda.
TCR going global
It was only 2015 that the TCR series had their initial race with more standardised cars according to new regulations. The main benefit was a more competitive field with lower running cost than the WTCC series. It had the same race weekend structure as the WTCC series so it could fit in the same TV schedule easily. In comparison the WTCC series had only a small number of manufacturers developing a car for either the TC1 or TC2 category. But in the TCR series there are already 11 manufacturers that have created a car according to the TCR regulations. Although the TCR cars are less powerful than the WTCC cars and they also weigh a bit more the main spectacle would be in having a complete field of 11 different car brands on the grid. Currently the following brands offer a TCR car: Alfa Romeo, Audi, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, KIA, LADA, Opel, Peugeot, Renault, SEAT, Subaru and Volkswagen. And because of the lower cost it also made it more easy for drivers to participate in this new TCR series.
The downside of this is also the large number of participants that would like to participate in DW TCR series that's why the organisation already has announced that it will limit the number of participants to 26th cars on the grid. For the new WTCR series It also has been decided to run 3 races each weekend instead of the current two adding even more spectacle. Eurosport will still be involved in organizing the event, and will broadcast the 10 races. The first race is scheduled for 7-8 April at Marrakech in Morocco. Check the full calendar here.
The format (by FIA)
Saturday:
Free Practice 1 (30 minutes); Free Practice 2 (30 minutes); Qualifying (30 minutes),
Race 1 top 10 classified finishers score points
Sunday
Qualifying Q1 (25 minutes)
Qualifying Q2 (10 minutes)
Qualifying Q3 (top-five shootout)
Race 2 top 10 positions reversed after Q2, top 10 classified finishers score points
Race 3 grid as per combined order after Q3, top 10 classified finishers score points
More info: WTCC
TCR going global
It was only 2015 that the TCR series had their initial race with more standardised cars according to new regulations. The main benefit was a more competitive field with lower running cost than the WTCC series. It had the same race weekend structure as the WTCC series so it could fit in the same TV schedule easily. In comparison the WTCC series had only a small number of manufacturers developing a car for either the TC1 or TC2 category. But in the TCR series there are already 11 manufacturers that have created a car according to the TCR regulations. Although the TCR cars are less powerful than the WTCC cars and they also weigh a bit more the main spectacle would be in having a complete field of 11 different car brands on the grid. Currently the following brands offer a TCR car: Alfa Romeo, Audi, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, KIA, LADA, Opel, Peugeot, Renault, SEAT, Subaru and Volkswagen. And because of the lower cost it also made it more easy for drivers to participate in this new TCR series.
The downside of this is also the large number of participants that would like to participate in DW TCR series that's why the organisation already has announced that it will limit the number of participants to 26th cars on the grid. For the new WTCR series It also has been decided to run 3 races each weekend instead of the current two adding even more spectacle. Eurosport will still be involved in organizing the event, and will broadcast the 10 races. The first race is scheduled for 7-8 April at Marrakech in Morocco. Check the full calendar here.
The format (by FIA)
Saturday:
Free Practice 1 (30 minutes); Free Practice 2 (30 minutes); Qualifying (30 minutes),
Race 1 top 10 classified finishers score points
Sunday
Qualifying Q1 (25 minutes)
Qualifying Q2 (10 minutes)
Qualifying Q3 (top-five shootout)
Race 2 top 10 positions reversed after Q2, top 10 classified finishers score points
Race 3 grid as per combined order after Q3, top 10 classified finishers score points
More info: WTCC