[WTCC] 2014 WTCC speculation, rumours and news

[I Rosputnik]

No Rotek Racing this year due to the new regs.

[auroan]

Originally Posted by I Rosputnik

No Rotek Racing this year due to the new regs.

Those Foci look a bit of a silly purchase now :-/

[Craner Curves]

It's a shame for them, as I understood they had a very competitive WTCC race-winning driver lined up for the second car.

[thetool]

Originally Posted by I Rosputnik

No Rotek Racing this year due to the new regs.

You need to warn people its an Autosport link, due to their limit on free article reads.

[I Rosputnik]

Originally Posted by thetool

You need to warn people its an Autosport link, due to their limit on free article reads.

Will do next time.

Originally Posted by Craner Curves

It's a shame for them, as I understood they had a very competitive WTCC race-winning driver lined up for the second car.

Turkington? Menu?

Not sure what they are going to do next year. If they decided to pull out due to regs and considering its only going to be the works teams who have the new cars I'm worried we might not see them at all. I still hope we will get a race at Sonoma for the next few years regardless even if there is a lack of manufacturer support in the future. It's a good track and helps the championship to feel a little more global.

[auroan]

I'm not sure the Foci had or would have any impact on there being a race at Sonoma. After all the Fords being raced were Euro spec cars run by an English team... then a German team

[Rubio]

I don't really understand, what were Rotek expecting. New regs were obvious from the beginning of the year. Plus they've done a lot of testing. Something tells me it's not due to the regs but to some financial problems.

And a little portion of rumors. Porto may be replaced in 2014 by Lisboa street circuit according to Motorsport-Total

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by Rubio

I don't really understand, what were Rotek expecting. New regs were obvious from the beginning of the year. Plus they've done a lot of testing. Something tells me it's not due to the regs but to some financial problems.

Yeah I was thinking the same.

[Yannis]

Originally Posted by auroan

However the second generation Kalina off which the Granta shares some of its chassis components is based on the Renault M0 platform.

Just a correction: Neither the Kalina nor the Granta are based in any Renault or Alliance platform. Both models are developed by AVTOVAZ on its own. The first LADA branded model based on a Renault platform is the Largus RF90 (Dacia Logan MCV).

However I suppose that AVTOVAZ engineers had the opportunity to use the Alliance know-how to develop the second generation of the Kalina.

Sorry for the off-topic.

[James C.]

Originally Posted by Rubio

And a little portion of rumors. Porto may be replaced in 2014 by Lisboa street circuit according to Motorsport-Total

The Porto race is taking place every two years anyway, so it is not really a replacement, but having a brand new Lisboa street circuit instead of Portimao might be news though.

[Rubio]

Some new interesting talks. In an interview Russian ETCC/WTCC driver Karamyshev said that the 4th official manufacturer in 2014 could be... Chevrolet! Maybe that "another team manufacturer support with at least 2 cars" is not Renault with RML but Chevrolet with RML.

[BtccLee]

Originally Posted by Rubio

Some new interesting talks. In an interview Russian ETCC/WTCC driver Karamyshev said that the 4th official manufacturer in 2014 could be... Chevrolet! Maybe that "another team manufacturer support with at least 2 cars" is not Renault with RML but Chevrolet with RML.

Well that's a plot twist!

[Rubio]

Yeah! However, that's a rumor still. But If Chevrolet's return does happen, it will certainly going to be a huge surprise. Maybe they understood what they lost. If they stayed for 2013, they could have got a lot of good publicity by thrashing the factory Honda team.

[I Rosputnik]

Did the Manchester United deal not get the sales they wanted?

Seems a bit too soon, but then again Lada pulled the plug and then quickly put it back in this year.

[keviiinn]

I never understood why Chevrolet pulled out when they did at the height of the sport and dominating everyone else.

certainly if they wanted to cut costs, they could have just reduced development funding, etc, and made up for some of the lost funding by doing what RML did anyway, and bringing on a pay driver + title sponsor. heck Lada and Honda have sponsors anyway and they're factory efforts.

[FIRE]

Especially with a car that's still the best and needs no major developement.

[NaBUru38]

There's a new Cruze coming soon, and be sure it will be another big jump in quality (remember the previous Lacetti?).

[kurski]

Brazil and France could feature on 2014 WTCC calendar.

[I Rosputnik]

Citroën Racing have put up a video of the WTCC being made.

And that looks very much like a saloon/sedan, perhaps the C4 L or C-Elysée?

[Craner Curves]

C-elysse for sure. It makes sense, as the WTCC visits the markets intended for the road car.

[NaBUru38]

The C-Elyseé is too cheap for a World Champonship. My bets are on the C4 Sedan.

Brazil could only work with Stock Car or another international championship (like WEC or IndyCar).

[Craner Curves]

Portuguese Autosport say it's the C-Elysee too. Mainly because it's available in more countries than the C4 sedan, but it has a shorter wheelbase than the competition. It would make sense why they tested components in a DS3 rally car, as that's a small, compact car.

[Matt]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

The C-Elyseé is too cheap for a World Champonship.

the lada granta competes, that renders your entire argument invalid.

[I Rosputnik]

All we need now is a few more out there cars sold in other markets (a JDM or USDM car perhaps? A Dodge Dart would look nice as a touring car) and I'm sure we are getting a very oddball mix of cars here.

Then consider the fact that some of these cars aren't sold in some of the countries the championship goes to such as Lada's racing in the US or Argentina makes for a rather unorthodox championship.

[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by Matt

the lada granta competes, that renders your entire argument invalid.

It's a Lada!