PARIS — The organizers of the FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) are hitting the pause button on the series' future after attempts to make the global touring car championship more sustainable came up short.
The FIA (Federation International de l'Automobile) is conducting an "in-depth assessment" of the WTC category ahead of a potential format change for its premier competition for combustion-engine touring cars. The series features race-prepped four-door touring cars powered by 2-liter engines.
The decision to pause the series affects Goodyear, which took over as the series' spec tire supplier at the start of the 2020 season for three seasons.
- This article appears in the Jan. 16 print edition of Tire Business.
For the short term, the FIA is considering staging a one-off all-star-type event in 2023. In November, Goodyear said it would consider submitting a tender for the proposed WTCR global event after a thorough analysis of the marketing return on investment, the technical brief and the regulations.
The series began in 2005 as the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) then morphed into the WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup in 2017, using TCR category technical regulations.
Commenting on the future of touring-car racing, Alan Gow, FIA Touring Car Commission president, said: "There is a need to identify and assess what is the best and most sustainable future for top-flight touring car racing as part of the FIA portfolio. Our goal would be to maintain a world title for conventionally powered touring cars and ensure the competition is strong and prestigious."
Gow noted that the current TCR technical regulations are in effect in a number of series worldwide covering over 1,000 cars and a variety of brands. As such, the intention would be to continue with this platform going forward.
At the same time, WTCR promoter Discovery Sports Events (DSE) is planning to refocus its attention on promoting the ETCR FIA eTouring Car World Cup for electric vehicles, another series for which Goodyear is the spec tire developer and supplier.
This series, dubbed Pure ETCR, took wing 2021 after four demonstration events in 2020. To date three car makes — Alfa Romeo, Hyundai and CUPRA — have joined the series, which specifies small race-prepped touring cars that use a standard electric motor/battery combination, rated at 500 kW (670 hp) and connected to a rear-wheel-drive chassis layout.
The series staged six racing weekends in 2022 at tracks across Europe but has as yet not released its 2023 schedule.
