[WTCC] 2015 WTCC news & rumours

[iceman-1987]

I like most of rounds but I can't accept that wtcc doesn't race in Italy Monza and UK silverstone/ donington!


I'm curious of Thailand, I hope that Japan event will be on other track cause suzuka was not good at all.

finally I wonder why in Portugal we can't race on estoril or on Algarve!!

[GusGasfuss]

It depends sometimes on tracks, that pay for a FIA championship...
If they need more publicity.

For me, i never heard of Vila Real as a race track. What championships they had before???

[NaBUru38]

No Italy, Britain or Austria. Macau replaced by Qatar.

[rustyfan]

Originally Posted by AndySpeed

Why? Because they aren't visiting any Formula 1 circuits? I think it's not bad at all, it just needs a UK race and Italy as well.

Interesting that both TC3 and WTCC are going to Buriram in 2015...

Whether or not Formula 1 races at a particular track is irrelevant and doesn't make it any better or worse. Is Monza a fantastic track just because Formula 1 races there? Of course not. Is Brands Hatch Int'l a bad track just because Formula 1 doesn't race there? Of course not. Nevertheless either one would be a fantastic addition to the schedule. Hell, given some of the tracks they visited in 2014 - like that tiny Chinese(?) Mickey Mouse track I can't even remember the name of - they could even add tracks like Oulton Park or Vallelunga (fantastic tracks but perhaps not ones you'd think of in terms of World Championships) and it would improve the quality of the schedule by a ton.

Mmm... just the thought of the WTCC racing at Oulton Park makes me smile from ear to ear. One can dream, eh?

[JoestForEver]

Originally Posted by rustyfan

Whether or not Formula 1 races at a particular track is irrelevant and doesn't make it any better or worse. Is Monza a fantastic track just because Formula 1 races there? Of course not. Is Brands Hatch Int'l a bad track just because Formula 1 doesn't race there? Of course not. Nevertheless either one would be a fantastic addition to the schedule. Hell, given some of the tracks they visited in 2014 - like that tiny Chinese(?) Mickey Mouse track I can't even remember the name of - they could even add tracks like Oulton Park or Vallelunga (fantastic tracks but perhaps not ones you'd think of in terms of World Championships) and it would improve the quality of the schedule by a ton.

Mmm... just the thought of the WTCC racing at Oulton Park makes me smile from ear to ear. One can dream, eh?

Mind you, Grade 3 circuit as it is, Goldenport did provide good racing and the very first victory for Lada.
Dropping gigantic F1 circuits in favour of smaller tracks is the right way IMO. The likes of Shanghai is too huge to put on a good show.

[rustyfan]

Originally Posted by JoestForEver

Mind you, Grade 3 circuit as it is, Goldenport did provide good racing and the very first victory for Lada.
Dropping gigantic F1 circuits in favour of smaller tracks is the right way IMO. The likes of Shanghai is too huge to put on a good show.

While I enjoyed the hell out of seeing Lada in victory lane I didn't like the circuit. It's too short (clocking in at 1,49 miles) and too slow. I do agree that WTCC, with the current regulations, should stay away from the biggest tracks - the cars are simply too slow. But why go to slow start/stop Mickey Mouse tracks? Why not aim for tracks like the previously mentioned Vallelunga? It's only about a mile longer than Goldenport but oh so much more interesting, with fast, sweeping corners and several sections that make for great racing (case in point the Euro V8 races there this year).

Sometimes I get the feeling the WTCC doesn't care about the package nor the fans, that it's some made-for-TV championship created primarily to sell advertising with the help of the "WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP" moniker.

Oh well, or perhaps I might just be some sort of dinosaur who long for the good old touring car days of the late 90's

[Metzo]

i guess its about the money, fia gets paid by track owners so they can host races and at the end they tell us they have to visit these tracks as the "new markets" are so important. otherwise i cant understnd why wtcc would race in thailand or qatar.

there are plenty of tracks that would suite the wtcc better.
zhuhai instead of shanghai, dubai instead of qatar, a race in australia instead of thailand, kyalami instead of marrakech, magny cours instead of paul ricard etc.

and i honestly would rather see them at estoril than at vila real.

[redshoes]

Ben Constanduros posted this elsewhere, I think it sums up things perfectly

Championship go to places that will a) pay them or b) they can sell cars or c) their competitors want them to be at - with the WTCC calendar one of those three reasons exist for all races

Citroen only sell the C-Elysee in Eastern Europe, North Africa and China. I don't believe Lada sell outside of Russia / Eastern Europe. Neither have any interest in racing in places Australia, Italy or the UK as it's of no benefit to them. UK circuits aren't willing to pay to host a race as there's not enough support to make money through ticket sales.

[JD Media]

It's still sad to see no British round... The Cup Racing in the UK is one of the best around the world, and then the World Championship isn't driving there.. moneymoneymoney..

[Mr Pink]

Originally Posted by GusGasfuss

It depends sometimes on tracks, that pay for a FIA championship...
If they need more publicity.

For me, i never heard of Vila Real as a race track. What championships they had before???

Check out this on-board video, it's fast! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jm8nY8kVabg I hope they don't change it too much.

Also the calendar might not be the best but I have a hard time not being excited about a world championship returning to the Nordschleife, compensates a lot for the lack of other exciting circuits IMO. But I agree with Rustyfan that there are a lot of circuits out there that would suit these cars well, for Italy I wouldn't mind seeing Enna Pergusa for example.

[Andrew Abbott]

Originally Posted by rustyfan

Sometimes I get the feeling the WTCC doesn't care about the package nor the fans, that it's some made-for-TV championship created primarily to sell advertising with the help of the "WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP" moniker.

Oh well, or perhaps I might just be some sort of dinosaur who long for the good old touring car days of the late 90's

I feel sorry for the organisers. Because they clearly tried to please people like you with the Nürburgring Nordschleife event. They made it happen!!

There are other pressures at work, so they can't all be events like that unfortunately.

[GusGasfuss]

Originally Posted by Mr Pink

Check out this on-board video, it's fast! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jm8nY8kVabg I hope they don't change it too much.

Also the calendar might not be the best but I have a hard time not being excited about a world championship returning to the Nordschleife, compensates a lot for the lack of other exciting circuits IMO. But I agree with Rustyfan that there are a lot of circuits out there that would suit these cars well, for Italy I wouldn't mind seeing Enna Pergusa for example.

Wow, i like that race track...looks very good to watch in a lap. But i think it will not be best for overtaking with TC1-cars.
As every street/city circuit.
For these tracks you need cars which will not break after small contact with barriers :-)

[Hawkwood]

Originally Posted by Metzo

i guess its about the money, fia gets paid by track owners so they can host races and at the end they tell us they have to visit these tracks as the "new markets" are so important. otherwise i cant understnd why wtcc would race in thailand or qatar.

there are plenty of tracks that would suite the wtcc better.
zhuhai instead of shanghai, dubai instead of qatar, a race in australia instead of thailand, kyalami instead of marrakech, magny cours instead of paul ricard etc.

and i honestly would rather see them at estoril than at vila real.

I'm not quite sure really which tracks would suit WTCC better, but picking Thailand for example is a decent move.
You said they should have Australia instead, but Thailand is very close to 3 times the population size (and therefore potential market), and without any competing native series to WTCC (which self-respecting Aussie would watch WTCC over the native V8s? ).
So stuff like that does make sense in the medium to longer term.

[Metzo]

a race in australia was just an example, no serious thought.

there may be no native series in thailand but there are plenty of international series racing at buriram next year, tc3 is racing just a week before wtcc.it wouldn't surprise me if more people go to the other events rather than to the wtcc.

turkey was also potential market with a big population and we all know how that ended.

[Juntos]

That's a new age for WTCC. François Ribeiro is not Marcello Lotti. He wants to explore the new world. Face it!

[FIRE]

Bennani confirmed at Loeb Racing.

[iceman-1987]

i wonder who could be proteam driver. Maybe d'Aste?

[Rubio]

I hope Proteam will be able to find a driver at all. D'Aste would have been great. But I believe more likely to take one of private-Chevy drivers (like it was written in the TcT article)

Meanwhile, some new portion of rumours http://www.toilef1.com/WTCC-Le-retour-de-Bamboo.html

Bamboo may be back with TC1 Chevy(s) with a French driver on board. Don't know how credible is this website though

[Metzo]

a return of Bamboo would be great. could it be that they bought the cruze from münnich?

d'aste returning (once again) to proteam would more possible than him entering a cruze with his own team.

[STAR Driver]

While it has been said before that Morbidelli was unlikely to return with Munnich for 2015, I think we can scoth the Priaulx/Turkington rumours based on this article: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/117136

Rene says he is not willing to fund a professional driver to run alongside him as "the car is not really competitive enough to have podiums. If I have to spend one million euro for a pro driver to be, I don't know, eighth, ninth or 10th, nobody will notice."

[BtccLee]

Originally Posted by STAR Driver

While it has been said before that Morbidelli was unlikely to return with Munnich for 2015, I think we can scoth the Priaulx/Turkington rumours based on this article: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/117136

Rene says he is not willing to fund a professional driver to run alongside him as "the car is not really competitive enough to have podiums. If I have to spend one million euro for a pro driver to be, I don't know, eighth, ninth or 10th, nobody will notice."

Exactly the same response to the same post but still relevant here: This confuses me. TCT did a similar article about a month ago exactly the same. Then they did the rumour article about Turks. So I think this Autosport one is a bit late to the party. Turks wouldn't cost as much as Morbidelli. And Priaulx is said to be talking to WSR who can't afford Turks. Not scotched yet...

[Mr Pink]

Volvo is dropping all sponsorship involvement except for Volvo Ocean Race. That includes STCC so don't expect them to show up in WTCC as was rumoured a while back.

They claim motorsports don't go together with their brand (smaller engines and security) which is complete bullshit. Sad day for swedish motorsports.

[Marcus666]

I also think its a quite much bull to say that it doesn't go together with their progress of smaller and efficient engines. They are targeting going down to maximum 2L I4s for the production cars and AFAIK, the WTCC, DTM (in 2016) and WEC (919 P1) all use/will use I4 with Turbo.

Speaking of STCC, yes, it's seems rather odd to me that you can advertise the S60 with a 3.6L V6 that isn't included in their own engine portfolio. Never really understood that.

[FIRE]

Volvo should dump Alain Visser.

This makes the WTCC entry less likely, although maybe there are other opinions at Volvo HQ.

Motorsport really helped to give Volvo a less boring image.

[JohannD]

Volvo should drop the Ocean Race sponsoring. Not part of their core values.
Promoting the new 4 cylinders, and maybe later on 3 cylinders, through motorsport is the best advertisement they can make.

But then Volvo never really understood how to market their brand ..