[WTCC] FIA WTCR 2018: WTCC / TCR Merger?

[Craner Curves]

Interesting format this season which I have only just read up on. One online only race tomorrow and then two televised races on Sunday. I'm looking forward to it.

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by Tarzaan

Just look at the picture in the article:

https://index.hu/mindekozben/poszt/2..._wtcr-futamra/

Tassi...makes sense he races at Hungaroring.
Is it clear which team runs his and Files Civic?

[ivozet]

Where can watch race 1 from Morocco on net?

[Mark0994]

Originally Posted by ivozet

Where can watch race 1 from Morocco on net?

I think they will be available on FIA WTCR Facebook page

[Bramzel]

Probably YouTube as well?

[MANU MATADOR]

The championship look truly competitive, let's see if bop slow Hyundai's a bit next race.
But Marrakech track is Soo back :/

[Bcarr6]

TCR saves WTCC.. actual decent racing even at a track like Marrakesh!

Serious teas and serious drivers, mixed in with a few chaps there for the heck of it, and for the most part very well balanced cars, all makes for some great potential.

Just think Hyundai needs to be pegged back slightly, not because they won two races, but because they seemed to be permanently on the attack regardless of who was driving them, they were just that little bit faster than anything else this weekend.

But hey, miles better than the dull dull dull Citroen fest of the last years

And finally Eurosport’s decent production values being put to use showing some on track action

[Mark0994]

They still need to work to catch BTCC, but 18 drivers in 1 second in qualiy is good sign

Hyundai need little bit bigger BOP, and Romeo Ferraris needs to get Alfa Romeo support if they want to compete with big boys.

Also I don't that we will see good racing on Villa Real, last years there were many start crashes with 15-16 cars field in both ETCC and WTCC.

[thlbtcc]

Race 1 was a rocky start for the series, interruptions and then a dull race.

But races 2 and 3 were much better. I see the aggressive version of Yvan Muller has been reincarnated.

If you are a customer in another series, there's no reason why you wouldn't buy a Hyundai.

[Pettersson]

Marrakech is still a horrible track, I agree. But I felt very nostalgic watching the first 3 races, it was a throwback to WTCC 2005-2008. I agree with Neil Hudsons column, this could very well be a classic season. Great mix of new talent and old heroes, but I really miss Comini. I hope he shows up this year, at least as a wild card entry.

[Juntos]

Doubtless Comini and a good BoP for Hyundai are missing points now.

[Bramzel]

I guess I'm the only one not missing Comini...

[Lanti]

Originally Posted by Juntos

Doubtless Comini and a good BoP for Hyundai are missing points now.

I cannot disagree more! I think the BoP worked just perfect in Marrakech. Every session more than 10 drivers within one second. Okay there were four Hyundais in Q3, but Ehrlacher had only 1 tenth deficit with the Honda. And don't forget that the compensation weight will come in from the Nordschleife to further fine tune the balance of performance. I think the FIA and TCR did quite well this time.

[Matt K]

Originally Posted by Bramzel

I guess I'm the only one not missing Comini...

No, you're not :P

[Mark0994]

Originally Posted by Lanti

I cannot disagree more! I think the BoP worked just perfect in Marrakech. Every session more than 10 drivers within one second. Okay there were four Hyundais in Q3, but Ehrlacher had only 1 tenth deficit with the Honda. And don't forget that the compensation weight will come in from the Nordschleife to further fine tune the balance of performance. I think the FIA and TCR did quite well this time.

Yes Ehrlacher was only 1 tenth behind Bjork, but Bjork has made mistake and Ehrlacher was half second behind Tarquini. That's bottom middle of BTCC grid.
But i agree BOP is really good (beside Hyundai). In Q1 there was 18 cars in 1 second.

[kentech]

Originally Posted by Bramzel

I guess I'm the only one not missing Comini...

Definitely you're not the only one!

[GM10]

Daniel Nagy is the first wild card in the WTCR in a M1RA Hyundai

[Mark0994]

And Tassi is second wild card driver with Civic for HELL Racing Team

[pimmy]

Those aren't surprising entries for the wildcard spots but it's good to have them.

[iceman-1987]

Originally Posted by GM10

Daniel Nagy is the first wild card in the WTCR in a M1RA Hyundai

We really missed another Hungarian driver to fill the bottom of the grid...

[Fechna]

Originally Posted by Lanti

I cannot disagree more! I think the BoP worked just perfect in Marrakech. Every session more than 10 drivers within one second. Okay there were four Hyundais in Q3, but Ehrlacher had only 1 tenth deficit with the Honda. And don't forget that the compensation weight will come in from the Nordschleife to further fine tune the balance of performance. I think the FIA and TCR did quite well this time.

Having 4 Hyundai drivers effectively beeing the fastest drivers in all sessions should be a good indicator that somethings wrong. Somebody should ask Honda now how they feel having running only 95% of their engine power compared to the 100% Hyundai is allowed to use. Or Audi about having the heaviest car.

Its not about the closeness of the field. Its about equal chances. Just do me a favour and think about this: If Yvan Muller Racing and BRC would have run Cupras in Marakech, would they have scored 5 out of 9 podium spots, 5 out of 6 in the races without reversed grid? Tarquini is a great driver, but hes not more then half a second faster then Huff, Shedden eg. And compensation weight is NOT for equalising the cars. It could be a way to equalise when the tracks used in a season favour a certain type of car.

[Rubio]

Originally Posted by Fechna

Having 4 Hyundai drivers effectively beeing the fastest drivers in all sessions should be a good indicator that somethings wrong. Somebody should ask Honda now how they feel having running only 95% of their engine power compared to the 100% Hyundai is allowed to use. Or Audi about having the heaviest car.

Its not about the closeness of the field. Its about equal chances. Just do me a favour and think about this: If Yvan Muller Racing and BRC would have run Cupras in Marakech, would they have scored 5 out of 9 podium spots, 5 out of 6 in the races without reversed grid? Tarquini is a great driver, but hes not more then half a second faster then Huff, Shedden eg. And compensation weight is NOT for equalising the cars. It could be a way to equalise when the tracks used in a season favour a certain type of car.

During the weekend I had pretty similar thoughts (based on emotions, obviously).

Now, emotions aside, I think, we really need to see the cars performance in Budapest (and also TCR Europe from Paul Ricard) which should give us a proper indication whether Hyundai is really faster than the others or was it twisty Marrakech circuit that suited them more.

[Fechna]

Originally Posted by Rubio

During the weekend I had pretty similar thoughts (based on emotions, obviously).

Now, emotions aside, I think, we really need to see the cars performance in Budapest (and also TCR Europe from Paul Ricard) which should give us a proper indication whether Hyundai is really faster than the others or was it twisty Marrakech circuit that suited them more.

Ok, but we also should just load them with +20kg. And then see how they compete against the rest of the field. TCR did that last year too.

[thlbtcc]

The Hyundai seems to have an inherent advantage when it comes to turn-in bite and lack of understeer. It just looks lighter on its toes, and we all saw that in TCR Int. last season. Seems odd that Audi was given more weight and Honda less power, from the outside looking in.

[Andrew Abbott]

DTM champion René Rast is in for the Nordschleife event.

Will be very interesting to see how he gets on.