World Touring Car Championship

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World Touring Car Championship

The World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) is an international Touring Car

Touring car racing

Touring car racing is a general term for a number of distinct auto racing competitions in heavily-modified street cars. It is notably popular in United Kingdom, Germany, Scandinavia, and Australia....
championship organized by the FIA

Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile

The F?d?ration Internationale de l'Automobile, commonly referred to as the FIA, is a non-profit association established as the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus on June 20, 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users....
.

The first WTCC, which was open to Group A

Group A

In relation to motorsport governed by the F?d?ration Internationale de l'Automobile, Group A referred to a set of regulations providing production-derived vehicles for outright competition....
Touring Cars, was held in 1987

1987 World Touring Car Championship season

The 1987 World Touring Car Championship season was the 1st World Touring Car Championship season. It commenced on March 22, 1987 and ended on November 15 after eleven races....
concurrent to the long-running European Touring Car Championship

European Touring Car Championship

The European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organized by the F?d?ration Internationale de l'Automobile....
(ETCC). Additional rounds were held outside Europe at Bathurst

Bathurst 1000

The Bathurst 1000 is a touring car racing race held annually at Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. The race was traditionally run on the first Sunday in October but is now held on the second Sunday....
in Australia, Calder Park Raceway

Calder Park Raceway

Calder Park Raceway is a motor racing circuit in Melbourne, Victoria , Australia. The complex includes a drag strip, a road circuit with several possible configurations, and the "Thunderdome", a high-speed banked oval equipped to race either clockwise or anti-clockwise ....
in Australia (using both the road course and the then newly constructed Thunderdome), Wellington in New Zealand and Mount Fuji

Fuji Speedway

is a race track standing in the foothills of Mount Fuji, in Oyama, Shizuoka, Sunto District, Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. The circuit hosted the F1 2007 Japanese Grand Prix in 2007 Formula One season, Japanese Grand Prix, replacing the Suzuka Circuit....
in Japan.

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Encyclopedia

The World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) is an international Touring Car

Touring car racing

Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile

Group A

1987 World Touring Car Championship season

European Touring Car Championship

Bathurst 1000

Calder Park Raceway

Fuji Speedway

Roberto Ravaglia

Roberto Ravaglia currently runs BMW's Team Italy-Spain in the World Touring Car Championship , who took Alessandro Zanardi to a famous race victory at Oschersleben....
in a BMW M3

BMW M3

The BMW M3 is a high performance BMW M GmbH version of the popular BMW BMW 3 Series compact car automobile. M3 models have been derived from the E30, E36, E46 and E90/E92/E93 3-series....
and the Entrants Championship was won by the Eggenberger Texaco Ford No 7 entry, which was a Ford Sierra. The WTCC lasted only one year and was a victim of its own success - the FIA feared it would take money away from Formula 1 and stopped sanctioning the Championship.

In 1993, with the high popularity of the Supertouring

Supertouring

Super Touring, Class 2 or Class II Touring Cars was a motor racing category defined by the F?d?ration Internationale de l'Automobile for national touring car racing in 1993 ....
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

Autodromo Nazionale Monza

Autodromo Nazionale Monza is a motorsport race track near the town of Monza, Italy, north of Milan. It is one of the most historic motor racing circuits in the world....
was won by Paul Radisich

Paul Radisich

Paul Radisich is a New Zealand racing driver of Croat origin. He has competed in saloon cars for many years - both European-style tourers and the V8 Supercars of Australia and New Zealand....
, at the wheel of a Ford Mondeo with no manufacturer title awarded. The race was run for two more years, (won by Paul Radisich again in 1994 at Donington Park

Donington Park

Donington Park is a site near Castle Donington in North West Leicestershire, England.Originally part of the Donington Hall estate, it is lease by Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd from owner Tom Wheatcroft....
in a Ford Mondeo, manufacturer title went to BMW, and Frank Biela

Frank Biela

Frank Biela is an auto racing driver, mainly competing in touring cars and sportscar racing. He has raced exclusively in cars manufactured by the Audi marque since 1990....
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

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west....
, but was cancelled due to a low number of provisional entries (10 cars). It was never brought back thereafter.

In 2001, the ETCC was resumed with support from the FIA. At the request of interested manufacturers, it was changed to the current WTCC beginning with the 2005 season, and is now considered the third most important FIA championship after Formula One

Formula One

Formula One, abbreviated to F1, and currently officially referred as the FIA Formula One World Championship is the highest class of auto racing sanctioned by the F?d?ration Internationale de l'Automobile ....
and the World Rally Championship

World Rally Championship

The World Rally Championship is a rallying series organised by the F?d?ration Internationale de l'Automobile, culminating with a champion driver and manufacturer....
.

With rounds at major prestigious circuits, the series is heavily supported by car manufacturers BMW

BMW

, is an independent German automotive industry founded in 1916. It also produces BMW Motorrad, is the owner of the MINI brand and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars....
, Chevrolet

Chevrolet

Chevrolet is a brand of automobile, produced by General Motors . It is the top selling GM marque, with "Chevrolet" or "Chevy" being at times synonymous with GM....
and SEAT

Seat

Seat can refer to:A place to sit, particularly the area one sits upon , See:* Chair* Car seat* Airline seat* Saddle, a type of seat used on the backs of animals, bicycles , etc....
, with Honda

Honda

is a multinational corporation headquartered in Japan.The company manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, trucks, scooter , robots, jet aircrafts and jet engines, all-terrain vehicle, water craft, electrical generators, marine engines, lawn and garden equipment, and aeronautical and other mobile technologies....
also involved, but some manufacturers like Lada

Lada

Lada is the trademark of AvtoVAZ, a Russian car manufacturer in Togliatti, Russia, Samara Oblast. All the manufacturer's vehicles sold nowadays are of the Lada brand but this has not always been so....
and Volvo

Volvo

The Volvo Group is a Sweden supplier of commercial vehicles such as trucks, buses and construction equipment, drive systems for marine and industrial applications, aerospace components and financial services....
are interested in the championship and they could enter in a future. It features compact and midsize cars based on Group N

Group N

In relation to motorsport governed by the F?d?ration Internationale de l'Automobile, Group N refers to a set of regulations providing 'standard' production vehicles for competition, often referred to as the "Showroom Class"....
rules, yet modified to Super 2000

Super 2000

Super 2000, also known as S2000, is an F?d?ration Internationale de l'Automobile specification and classification for production based race cars....
regulations, an intermediate level between the slightly modified Superproduction cars and the extinct Supertouring class.

Following the trend of recent FIA rules, cost control is a major theme in the technical regulation. Engines are limited to 2000 cc

Cubic centimetre

A cubic centimetre or cubic centimeter is a commonly used unit of volume extending the derived International System of Units-unit cubic metre and corresponds to the volume of a cube measuring 1?1?1 cm....
. Many technologies that have featured in production cars are not allowed, including variable valve timing

Variable valve timing

Variable valve timing, or VVT, is a generic term for an automobile piston engine technology. VVT allows the lift, duration or timing of the intake or exhaust Poppet valve to be changed while the engine is in operation....
, variable intake geometry

Variable Length Intake Manifold

Variable Length Intake Manifold is an automobile engine manifold technology. As the name implies, VLIM can vary the length of the intake tract in order to optimize power and torque, as well as provide better fuel efficiency....
, ABS brakes

Anti-lock braking system

An anti-lock braking system, or ABS is a safety system which prevents the wheels on a motor vehicle from locking while brake.A rotating road wheel allows the driver to maintain steering control under heavy braking by preventing a skid and allowing the wheel to continue interacting Traction with the road surface as directed by driver...
and traction control system.

Frenchman

France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
Yvan Muller

Yvan Muller

Yvan Muller is a France auto racing driver most noted for success in Touring Car and Ice racing....
is the current series champion, winning a first major title for Spanish manufacturer SEAT, breaking the dominance BMW has held over the title since its inception. Also it was the first FIA sanctioned world championship, in any category, won by a diesel powered racing car in the SEAT León TDI

SEAT León

The SEAT Le?n is a small family car built by the Spain car manufacturer SEAT since 1999. It uses the Volkswagen A platform and shares other components with the Volkswagen Golf, Audi A3 and ?koda Octavia....
.

The series are based in Europe (with races in Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the List of islands by area, and the largest in Europe. With a population of 58.9 million people it is List of islands by population....
, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
, Spain

Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
, France

France

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
, Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east....
and Czech Republic

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country borders Poland to the northeast, Germany to the west, Austria to the south and Slovakia to the east....
and former races in Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the ?resund Bridge in the south....
, Belgium

Belgium

* A small German-speaking Community of Belgium exists in eastern Wallonia. Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political and cultural conflicts are reflected in the history of Belgium and a complex Communities and regions of Belgium....
, Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands is located in North-West Europe, and bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east....
and Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in southwest Asia and Thrace in the Balkans region of Southern Europe....
) but the FIA is extending the championship internationally: now there are races in Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the List of countries by population country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world....
, Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
, Macau

Macau

The Macau Special Administrative Region, , commonly known as Macau or Macao , is one of the two special administrative region of the People's Republic of China, the other being Hong Kong....
and Japan

Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
; in 2009

2009 World Touring Car Championship season

The 2009 World Touring Car Championship season is the sixth F?d?ration Internationale de l'Automobile World Touring Car Championship season, the fifth since its 2005 return....
there will be a new race in Morocco

Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 34 million and an area just under 447,000 km2....
and there are some rumours of a race in Russia

Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
for 2010 season.

Series champions

	WTCC Drivers' Champions			WTCC Manufacturers' Champions
Year	Driver	Team	Car	Manufacturer	Car
2008 2008 World Touring Car Championship season The 2008 World Touring Car Championship season was the fifth World Touring Car Championship season, the fourth since its 2005 return. It began on March 2, and ended on November 16, after twenty-four races....	Yvan Muller Yvan Muller Yvan Muller is a France auto racing driver most noted for success in Touring Car and Ice racing....		SEAT León TDI SEAT León The SEAT Le?n is a small family car built by the Spain car manufacturer SEAT since 1999. It uses the Volkswagen A platform and shares other components with the Volkswagen Golf, Audi A3 and ?koda Octavia....	SEAT Seat Seat can refer to:A place to sit, particularly the area one sits upon , See:* Chair* Car seat* Airline seat* Saddle, a type of seat used on the backs of animals, bicycles , etc....	SEAT León TDI SEAT León The SEAT Le?n is a small family car built by the Spain car manufacturer SEAT since 1999. It uses the Volkswagen A platform and shares other components with the Volkswagen Golf, Audi A3 and ?koda Octavia....
2007 2007 World Touring Car Championship season The 2007 World Touring Car Championship season is the 4th World Touring Car Championship season. It commenced on March 11 and ended on November 18, after twenty-two races....	Andy Priaulx Andy Priaulx Andrew Graham Priaulx, Order of the British Empire is a motorsport driver, European Touring Car Championship champion, and three times World Touring Car Championship champion....		BMW 320si BMW E90 The BMW E90 automobile platform is the fifth generation of the BMW 3 Series range of compact executive car cars. The car is also available as a station wagon/estate , coup? and retractable hardtop ....	BMW BMW , is an independent German automotive industry founded in 1916. It also produces BMW Motorrad, is the owner of the MINI brand and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars....	BMW 320si BMW E90 The BMW E90 automobile platform is the fifth generation of the BMW 3 Series range of compact executive car cars. The car is also available as a station wagon/estate , coup? and retractable hardtop ....
2006 2006 World Touring Car Championship season The 2006 World Touring Car Championship season was the 3rd World Touring Car Championship season. It commenced on April 2, 2006 and ended on November 19 after twenty races....	Andy Priaulx Andy Priaulx Andrew Graham Priaulx, Order of the British Empire is a motorsport driver, European Touring Car Championship champion, and three times World Touring Car Championship champion....		BMW 320si BMW E90 The BMW E90 automobile platform is the fifth generation of the BMW 3 Series range of compact executive car cars. The car is also available as a station wagon/estate , coup? and retractable hardtop ....	BMW BMW , is an independent German automotive industry founded in 1916. It also produces BMW Motorrad, is the owner of the MINI brand and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars....	BMW 320si BMW E90 The BMW E90 automobile platform is the fifth generation of the BMW 3 Series range of compact executive car cars. The car is also available as a station wagon/estate , coup? and retractable hardtop ....
2005 2005 World Touring Car Championship season The 2005 World Touring Car Championship season was the second World Touring Car Championship season. It commenced on April 10, 2005 and ended on November 20 after twenty races....	Andy Priaulx Andy Priaulx Andrew Graham Priaulx, Order of the British Empire is a motorsport driver, European Touring Car Championship champion, and three times World Touring Car Championship champion....		BMW 320i BMW E46 The E46 automobile platform is the fourth generation of BMW's BMW 3 Series entry-level luxury car / compact executive car. The sedan was introduced in 1998 and replaced the BMW E36 sedan the same year....	BMW BMW , is an independent German automotive industry founded in 1916. It also produces BMW Motorrad, is the owner of the MINI brand and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars....	BMW 320i BMW E46 The E46 automobile platform is the fourth generation of BMW's BMW 3 Series entry-level luxury car / compact executive car. The sedan was introduced in 1998 and replaced the BMW E36 sedan the same year....
	WTCC Drivers' Champions			WTCC Entrants' Champions
Year	Driver	Team	Car	Manufacturer	Car
1987 1987 World Touring Car Championship season The 1987 World Touring Car Championship season was the 1st World Touring Car Championship season. It commenced on March 22, 1987 and ended on November 15 after eleven races....	Roberto Ravaglia Roberto Ravaglia Roberto Ravaglia currently runs BMW's Team Italy-Spain in the World Touring Car Championship , who took Alessandro Zanardi to a famous race victory at Oschersleben....	Schnitzer Motorsport Schnitzer Motorsport Schnitzer Motorsport is a successful Motorsport Team based in Freilassing near Munich, Germany. In the last years, they mainly competed as BMW Team Germany in the World Touring Car Championship with drivers J?rg M?ller and Augusto Farfus who moved from Alfa Romeo during the winter leading up to the 2007 season....	BMW M3 BMW M3 The BMW M3 is a high performance BMW M GmbH version of the popular BMW BMW 3 Series compact car automobile. M3 models have been derived from the E30, E36, E46 and E90/E92/E93 3-series....		Ford Sierra RS Cosworth Ford Sierra RS Cosworth Ford Sierra RS Cosworth is the result of a Ford-project with the purpose of "Producing a downright winner for Group A racing events in Europe."... Ford Sierra RS 500 Ford Sierra RS Cosworth Ford Sierra RS Cosworth is the result of a Ford-project with the purpose of "Producing a downright winner for Group A racing events in Europe."...

Independents champions

	WTCC Independents' Champions
Year	Driver	Team	Car
2008 2008 World Touring Car Championship season The 2008 World Touring Car Championship season was the fifth World Touring Car Championship season, the fourth since its 2005 return. It began on March 2, and ended on November 16, after twenty-four races....	Sergio Hernández Sergio Hernandez Sergio Hern?ndez von Reckowski is a Spain auto racing, currently competing in the World Touring Car Championship....	Proteam Motorsport Proteam Motorsport Proteam Motorsport is an Italian auto racing team based in Arezzo that was set up by former driver Valmiro Presenzini in 1997. They're best known for their efforts in the FIA World Touring Car Championship....	BMW 320si BMW E90 The BMW E90 automobile platform is the fifth generation of the BMW 3 Series range of compact executive car cars. The car is also available as a station wagon/estate , coup? and retractable hardtop ....
2007 2007 World Touring Car Championship season The 2007 World Touring Car Championship season is the 4th World Touring Car Championship season. It commenced on March 11 and ended on November 18, after twenty-two races....	Stefano D'Aste Stefano D'Aste Stefano D'Aste is an Italian auto racing driver.His early racing career included competing on motorcycles and the Monza International Rally. He has competed in the World Touring Car Championship since 2004 ....		BMW 320si BMW E90 The BMW E90 automobile platform is the fifth generation of the BMW 3 Series range of compact executive car cars. The car is also available as a station wagon/estate , coup? and retractable hardtop ....
2006 2006 World Touring Car Championship season The 2006 World Touring Car Championship season was the 3rd World Touring Car Championship season. It commenced on April 2, 2006 and ended on November 19 after twenty races....	Tom Coronel Tom Coronel Tom Romeo Coronel is a Netherlands auto racing driver. Tom's twin brother Tim is also a racer, just like their father Tom Coronel Sr. His most important results are winning the Ultimate Masters of Formula 3 race in 1997, the Formula Nippon championship in 1999, and the 2006 World Touring Car Championship Independents' Trophy....		SEAT León SEAT León The SEAT Le?n is a small family car built by the Spain car manufacturer SEAT since 1999. It uses the Volkswagen A platform and shares other components with the Volkswagen Golf, Audi A3 and ?koda Octavia....
2005 2005 World Touring Car Championship season The 2005 World Touring Car Championship season was the second World Touring Car Championship season. It commenced on April 10, 2005 and ended on November 20 after twenty races....			BMW 320i BMW E46 The E46 automobile platform is the fourth generation of BMW's BMW 3 Series entry-level luxury car / compact executive car. The sedan was introduced in 1998 and replaced the BMW E36 sedan the same year....

FIA World Touring Car Cup winners

	FIA World Touring Car Cup (1993-1995)
Year	Winning driver	Winning car	Winning manufacturer	Track
1995	Frank Biela Frank Biela Frank Biela is an auto racing driver, mainly competing in touring cars and sportscar racing. He has raced exclusively in cars manufactured by the Audi marque since 1990....	Audi A4 quattro Audi A4 The Audi A4 is a compact executive car produced by the Germany automaker Audi since 1994. The first generation A4 succeeded the Audi 80.It is available as a sedan or a station wagon ....	Audi Audi AUDI AG, is a Germany car manufacturer which produces cars under the Audi brand, . The name Audi is based on a latin translation of the last name of the founder August "Horch", itself the German word for ?hear." Another explanation for the origin of the name is as an acronym for ?Auto Union Deutschland Ingolstadt."...	Paul Ricard Circuit Paul Ricard The Paul Ricard Circuit is a motorsport race track built at Le Castellet, Var, near Marseille, France, in 1969 with finance from the eccentric drinks magnate Paul Ricard, who created what essentially became Pernod Ricard....
1994	Paul Radisich Paul Radisich Paul Radisich is a New Zealand racing driver of Croat origin. He has competed in saloon cars for many years - both European-style tourers and the V8 Supercars of Australia and New Zealand....	Ford Mondeo Ford Mondeo The Ford Mondeo is a large family car sold by the Ford Motor Company in various markets throughout the world. The name "Mondeo" derives from the Latin word mundus, meaning "world"....	BMW BMW , is an independent German automotive industry founded in 1916. It also produces BMW Motorrad, is the owner of the MINI brand and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars....	Donington Park Donington Park Donington Park is a site near Castle Donington in North West Leicestershire, England.Originally part of the Donington Hall estate, it is lease by Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd from owner Tom Wheatcroft....
1993	Paul Radisich Paul Radisich Paul Radisich is a New Zealand racing driver of Croat origin. He has competed in saloon cars for many years - both European-style tourers and the V8 Supercars of Australia and New Zealand....	Ford Mondeo Ford Mondeo The Ford Mondeo is a large family car sold by the Ford Motor Company in various markets throughout the world. The name "Mondeo" derives from the Latin word mundus, meaning "world"....	no title	Monza Autodromo Nazionale Monza Autodromo Nazionale Monza is a motorsport race track near the town of Monza, Italy, north of Milan. It is one of the most historic motor racing circuits in the world....

World Touring Car Championship

Series champions

Independents champions

FIA World Touring Car Cup winners

See also

External links