 | |
| Category | Touring cars |
|---|---|
| Country | International |
| Inaugural season | 2018 |
| Folded | 2022 |
| Tyre suppliers | Goodyear |
| Last Drivers' champion |  Mikel Azcona |
| Last Teams' champion |  BRC Racing Team |
TheFIA World Touring Car Cup (abbreviated toWTCR, referring to the use ofTCR regulations) was an internationaltouring car championship promoted byEurosport Events and sanctioned by theFédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It has had different incarnation of a World Touring Car Cup held between 1993 and 1995. Following the 2017 season, an agreement was reached for theWorld Touring Car Championship (WTCC) to become WTCR and use theTCR technical regulations. As factory teams were not allowed to compete in WTCR, the series lost the 'World Championship' status of the WTCC, instead becoming a 'Cup'.[1]
In 1993, with the high popularity of theSuper Touring category, the FIA hosted the FIA Touring Car World Cup — an annual event for touring car drivers hailing from national championships all over the world. The1993 race atMonza was won by New Zealand'sPaul Radisich, at the wheel of aFord Mondeo ahead ofNicola Larini'sAlfa Romeo 155, with no manufacturer title awarded. The race was run for two more years, (won by Paul Radisich again in1994 atDonington Park in a Ford Mondeo, manufacturer title went to BMW, andFrank Biela in1995 atPaul Ricard in an Audi A4 Quattro, and manufacturer title went to Audi). A similar event was planned for 1996 at theA1 Ring,Austria, but was cancelled due to a low number of provisional entries (10 cars). It was never brought back thereafter.
On 6 December 2017, during the FIA's World Motorsport Council in Paris, it was approved the formation of the new World Touring Car Cup starting from 2018. The new series would utilize theTCR rules, which have been in use in numerous national and international touring car racing series, including theTCR International Series. As a result of the formation of the WTCR, both the WTCC in its current format and the TCR International Series would be discontinued immediately.[2]
A new format was introduced, with one qualifying session and one race on the first day and a three-phase qualifying session on the second day and two races, with the first one having the top 10 of the grid reversed.[3][4]
In October 2022 it was reported that the series would be folding in its current format following the 2022 season, with any future change to the series being evaluated and announced at a later date.[5][6]
The compensation weight system in WTCR – which assigns weight penalties to certain cars for their performance in certain situations – was often criticised, being deemed unnecessary given the series also utilised aBalance of Performance (BoP) system to equalise the performance of the participating cars.[7][8][9] As a result of the system, several teams deliberately ordered their drivers to drive slower than possible in qualifying and/or race sessions in order to minimise the compensation weight penalty; often the teams who were best able to game the system had the best chances of success.[10][11][7] Another byproduct of the system was a lack of overtaking, as often drivers weren't allowed to go faster to get past other cars when the weight penalties were also calculated from race lap times.[7]
The series was also notorious for the politicking and team orders employed by some teams and their car providers, most notablyBRC Racing Team/Hyundai andCyan Racing/Lynk & Co.[12][13][14][15] The politicking was generally focused on the Balance of Performance, which culminated in Hyundai instructing their customer teams to not participate at the 2020 Race of Germany and Cyan Racing leaving the series halfway through the 2022 season after unsatisfactory BoP.[16][17]
Following various difficulties concerning the WTCR format, WTCR was revised into the world tour format starting from 2023 season. TCR World Tour calendar will consist of races picked from various regional and national TCR series world wide unlike the WTCR format which was based on a season calendar primarily independent from other TCR series.[18]
Cars had to be production models, with a minimum production of 5000 samples in a year. The engine was limited to a displacement of up to 2 liters, turbo charged, and with the aid of restrictors, to a maximum yield of 350 Hp.Each car was assigned a minimum racing weight which is used tobalance the performances.
For the 2022 season, FIA WTCR races were awarded the following points, similar toMotoGP scoring system:[19]
| 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 |
In 2022, broadcasters of the FIA WTCR included:
| Drivers' Champions | Entrants' Champions | Nations Champions | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Driver | Team | Car | Manufacturer | Car | Nation | ||
| 1993 |  Paul Radisich |  Ford Team Mondeo | Ford Mondeo | Not Held | Italy | |||
| 1994 | Paul Radisich | Ford Team Mondeo | Ford Mondeo |  BMW | BMW 318i | Germany | ||
| 1995 | Frank Biela |  Racing Organisation Course | Audi A4 Quattro | Audi | Audi A4 Quattro | Not Held | ||
