[WTCC] 2014 WTCC speculation, rumours and news

[helgi]

With all these wide body 380-hp saloons is there any possibility to put them into national championships, or are they made only for international scene? If so, isn't there any sense to make a Group 2 specs for national series. In other case they are going to become mono-cups.

[Andrew Abbott]

Originally Posted by helgi

With all these wide body 380-hp saloons is there any possibility to put them into national championships, or are they made only for international scene? If so, isn't there any sense to make a Group 2 specs for national series. In other case they are going to become mono-cups.

The problem is that series, such as those in Britain and Scandinavia, did not want to become dependent on such hand-me-downs. Thus they have devised their own regulations in order to isolate themselves from the international scene and, in a way, to create their own touring car economies in which they can exert more control over their product.

[Metzo]

Originally Posted by kurski

Alfa Romeo, KIA and Subaru interested in the reborn WTCC.

Alfa comeback would be great. Kia could probably use the same car as they use in CTCC

[Bramzel]

I wouldn't expect too much from those brands, they're rumoured for ages already without anything significant happening.

[kurski]

José MarÃ*a López would welcome a chance to join the WTCC in 2014.

[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by kurski

Alfa Romeo, KIA and Subaru interested in the reborn WTCC.

That website publishes lots of unreliable rumours.

Originally Posted by AndySpeed

series, such as those in Britain and Scandinavia, did not want to become dependent on such hand-me-downs. Thus they have devised their own regulations in order to isolate themselves from the international scene and, in a way, to create their own touring car economies in which they can exert more control over their product.

They did that. It hurts foreign entries.

[Hazard]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

That website publishes lots of unreliable rumours.

In this case, I think it's just a very out-of-date rumour.

[porsche962fan]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

They did that. It hurts foreign entries.

strangely the foreign entries were completely missing when all this championships STCC/ BTCC/ WTCC had same S2000 rules...

[Craner Curves]

Originally Posted by porsche962fan

strangely the foreign entries were completely missing when all this championships STCC/ BTCC/ WTCC had same S2000 rules...

That's incorrect, there were several STCC and other European S2000 series teams entered in races. WSR were the only BTCC team willing to enter because they had the global backing of the Aviva group behind them. It wasn't practical for other BTCC teams to switch to Yokohama tyres, invest in tyre warmers and do any events, particularly as it had no relevance to their domestic sponsors.

[porsche962fan]

Originally Posted by Craner Curves

That's incorrect, there were several STCC and other European S2000 series teams entered in races. WSR were the only BTCC team willing to enter because they had the global backing of the Aviva group behind them. It wasn't practical for other BTCC teams to switch to Yokohama tyres, invest in tyre warmers and do any events, particularly as it had no relevance to their domestic sponsors.

but the actual entry numbers are really pathetic and just some very sporadic guest entries NO permanent entries !!!!

plus WSR only in 2010 entered with their own car, in 2011 they supported Wickers and 2012 rented Cruze from RML

if very sporadic guest entries happend it's just not worth keeping same rules cos if someone is interested they can do the same and rend a car from an existing team in the championship

say some team wants to guest enter in BTCC they can get an NGTC car or some deal from an existing team

Again the point is there were no permanent entries from other country , NO STCC team in BTCC or WTCC, no BTCC team permanently in STCC or WTCC and we are talking pre 2009 when there was no economy crisis either

[Craner Curves]

Originally Posted by porsche962fan

but the actual entry numbers are really pathetic and just some very sporadic guest entries NO permanent entries !!!!

plus WSR only in 2010 entered with their own car, in 2011 they supported Wickers and 2012 rented Cruze from RML

if very sporadic guest entries happend it's just not worth keeping same rules cos if someone is interested they can do the same and rend a car from an existing team in the championship

say some team wants to guest enter in BTCC they can get an NGTC car or some deal from an existing team

Again the point is there were no permanent entries from other country , NO STCC team in BTCC or WTCC, no BTCC team permanently in STCC or WTCC and we are talking pre 2009 when there was no economy crisis either

WSR entered in 2007 also....

The point wasn't about permanent entries.

[Pettersson]

Originally Posted by porsche962fan

but the actual entry numbers are really pathetic and just some very sporadic guest entries NO permanent entries !!!!

....

Again the point is there were no permanent entries from other country , NO STCC team in BTCC or WTCC, no BTCC team permanently in STCC or WTCC and we are talking pre 2009 when there was no economy crisis either

What about Volvo Polestar Racing in 2011? And NIKA Racing this season? Both where/are STCC teams doing full time seasons in WTCC after making a few one-off appearances.

I also think you must take into account that there's an ETCC championship, which has been both a one-off event and an own Championship. It might have been the first choice for national teams to go international, at least for some Swedish teams like West Coast Racing.

[cmk]

Originally Posted by porsche962fan

strangely the foreign entries were completely missing when all this championships STCC/ BTCC/ WTCC had same S2000 rules...

While this is largely true save for guest entries (and as a route for Polestar and Nika into the series), there is a bit of potential hidden benefit to both WTCC and national series, and that is an increased market for chassis. When a chassis has no resale value because it can't be run elsewhere, it limits options both for teams at the higher but not infinitely funded end of the ladder (who could benefit from more opportunities to sell an old car to keep running new chassis) and lower-rung teams (who can benefit from a wider range of used cars available). More places to sell cars helps encourage manufacturers to make customer chassis as well, because it's more feasible to recoup development costs.

[porsche962fan]

well the BTCC is going really great almost 30 NGTC cars build or in WIP without having to rely on old WTCC leftovers , why can't WTCC adopt the NGTC rules themselves then ? this new S2000 seems nobody wants them outiside of WTCC

[FIRE]

Not very realistic to expect teams doing full season of WTCC besides full season of BTCC/STCC.

[Hazard]

Originally Posted by porsche962fan

well the BTCC is going really great almost 30 NGTC cars build or in WIP without having to rely on old WTCC leftovers , why can't WTCC adopt the NGTC rules themselves then ? this new S2000 seems nobody wants them outiside of WTCC

Same can be said for NGTC? No one else wants that either. And there were only a few cars in the first season of NGTC, it takes time to build new cars.

At the very least with S2000 different manufacturers are building new cars whereas with NGTC everyone's dependent and waiting on the same suppliers to build all the spec components, which is where all the problems are. And of course means NGTC is of no interest to the manufacturers.

[Mr Pink]

Is there some sort of list of what's new/changed with the new regs?
I honestly haven't followed WTCC in a while.

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by Mr Pink

Is there some sort of list of what's new/changed with the new regs?
I honestly haven't followed WTCC in a while.

The key points of the technical regulations, which will be officially signed off and released in July are confirmed to be:
- The cars’ minimum weight will be 1,100kg (this is currently 1,150kg)
- Larger 18″ wheels (currently 17″)
- An increase in engine power output to 380bhp (approx 50-60bhp increase)
- A maximum width of 1,950mm (approx. 100mm wider than the current cars)
- A 100mm long front splitter
- A rear wing that can reach the height of the roof of the car, with a single plane
- Flat floors permitted
- MacPherson strut suspension
- S2000 2014 cars performance target to be 1.1km/h faster per km than S2000 2011 cars (in 2013 spec)
- S2000 2011 cars performance target to be 0.4km/h faster per km than they are presently
There are also a few changed to the sporting regulations, which include:
- Race distances will be fixed at 60km. As of 2012 they have been either 50km or 60km each.
- Qualifying will be in three parts, with the top five going into Q3.
- Standing starts will be used for both races.
- No balance of performance (various waivers and differentiated base weights of cars).
- Compensation weight however will continue

More on: http://www.touringcartimes.com/2013/...l-regulations/

[Mr Pink]

Thank you very much FIRE! Sounds good to me, especially if they actually stand by the elimination of BoP.

[iceman-1987]

with muller and loen on citroen i wonder who will take the car of yvan muller in rml.
could be possible a return of alain menu?
if i understood well rml could modify their cruze to adapt to the new reg.

[iceman-1987]

Originally Posted by FIRE

More on: http://www.touringcartimes.com/2013/...l-regulations/

personally the only thing that i would take off it would be the increase of powefull to the engine.
in this way all the indipendent team who use the bmw could modify their car without too much problems.

[Div]

Originally Posted by iceman-1987

personally the only thing that i would take off it would be the increase of powefull to the engine.
in this way all the indipendent team who use the bmw could modify their car without too much problems.

The engine power increase is effectively only a restrictor change so that's not the biggest hurdle the BMW team have to overcome. Its the cost of developing the new areo parts that's the most expensive.

[iceman-1987]

Originally Posted by Div

The engine power increase is effectively only a restrictor change so that's not the biggest hurdle the BMW team have to overcome. Its the cost of developing the new areo parts that's the most expensive.

are u sure about it? i read that bmw was already on limit with their develop of the engine and it was not more possible to increse the power!

[Craner Curves]

Originally Posted by iceman-1987

are u sure about it? i read that bmw was already on limit with their develop of the engine and it was not more possible to increse the power!

I'm sure they must be able to. The same basic engine in the MINI WRC is being developed for rallycross use. Mainly through a bigger restrictor, but also a small power increase. So if they can get as much as 400BHP from the 1.6 WRC engine, surely they can do the same for the TC version?

[Div]

Originally Posted by iceman-1987

are u sure about it? i read that bmw was already on limit with their develop of the engine and it was not more possible to increse the power!

Yeah, it's just not a great engine. Shame really!