2016 World Touring Car Championship

The 2016 World Touring Car Championship is the thirteenth season of the FIA World Touring Car Championship, and the twelfth since the series was revived in 2005.[1]

2016 World Touring Car Championship
World Drivers' Champion: José María López World Manufacturers' Champion: Citroën
Previous:	2015	Next:	2017
Support series: European Touring Car Cup

In 2016 a new manufacturer Polestar (with Volvo S60) entered while Citroën reduced the number of official entries to two, and announced their retirement in 2017. A new team time trial format was introduced for manufacturers, titled Manufacturers Against the Clock (MAC3), consisting in three cars per manufacturer completing two laps at the same time (only one lap at the Nürburgring) against the clock, whereby the total time of the last car determines the result. The cars must finish in a 15 seconds gap.

Teams and drivers

Team Car No. Drivers Rounds Manufacturer entries Lada Sport Rosneft[2] Lada Vesta WTCC[2] 2 Gabriele Tarquini[3] All 7 Hugo Valente[3] All 10 Nick Catsburg[3] All Honda Racing Team JAS[4] Honda Civic WTCC[5] 5 Norbert Michelisz[5] All 34 Ryo Michigami[6] 9 Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team[5] 12 Robert Huff[5] All 18 Tiago Monteiro[5] All Citroën Racing[7] Citroën C-Elysée WTCC[7] 37 José María López[7] All 68 Yvan Muller[7] All Polestar Cyan Racing[8] Volvo S60 Polestar TC1 61 Fredrik Ekblom[9] 1–6, 10 62 Thed Björk[9] All 63 Robert Dahlgren[10] 7–8, 11 81 Néstor Girolami[11] 9 Independent entries Sébastien Loeb Racing[12] Citroën C-Elysée WTCC 3 Tom Chilton[13] All 11 Grégoire Demoustier[14] All 25 Mehdi Bennani[12] All ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 8 Sabine Schmitz 5 15 James Thompson[15] 2, 4, 6–11 77 René Münnich[4] 1, 3 ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 9 Tom Coronel[4] All Campos Racing[4] Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1[4] 27 John Filippi[16] All 86 Esteban Guerrieri[17] 8 Zengő Motorsport[4] Honda Civic WTCC[4] 55 Ferenc Ficza[18] 1–7, 9–11 99 Dániel Nagy[18] 1, 7–11 ETCC Entries ineligible to score points Super 2000 Zengő Motorsport[19] SEAT León Cup Racer 108 Norbert Nagy[19] 5 Rikli Motorsport[19] Honda Civic TCR 111 Kris Richard[19] 5 112 Peter Rikli[19] 5 Lema Racing[19] SEAT León Cup Racer 114 Igor Stefanovski[19] 5 137 Fábio Mota[19] 5 ASK Lein Racing[19] SEAT León Cup Racer 117 Mladen Lalušić[19] 5 Krenek Motorsport[19] SEAT León Cup Racer 119 Christjohannes Schreiber[19] 5 122 Petr Fulín[19] 5 Sébastien Loeb Racing[20] Peugeot 308 Racing Cup[20] 130 Teddy Clairet[19] 5 138 David Pouget[19] 5 Super 1600 RAVENOL Motorsport[19] Ford Fiesta 1.6 16V 181 Niklas Mackschin[19] 5 182 Ksenia Niks[19] 5 183 Daniel Niermann[19] 5 184 Ulrike Krafft[19] 5 ETH Tuning[19] Peugeot 207 Sport 186 Andreas Rinke[19] 5 187 David Griessner[19] 5 Master KR Racing[19] Ford Fiesta 1.6 16V[19] 195 Sergii Kravets[19] 5 197 Pavlo Kopylets[19] 5 Calendar The provisional 2016 schedule was revealed on 2 December 2015.[21] With the confirmation of the 2016 SMP F4 Championship calendar, it was originally confirmed the season would start at the Sochi Autodrom, with the Russian round of the championship switching from Moscow Raceway.[22] However, on 9 February 2016, the calendar was adjusted, leaving the Russian round at Moscow in June.[23] Rnd. Race Race Name Circuit Date 1 1 JVC Kenwood Race of France Circuit Paul Ricard 3 April 2 2 3 Race of Slovakia Automotodróm Slovakia Ring 17 April 4 3 5 Race of Hungary Hungaroring 24 April 6 4 7 Afriquia Race of Morocco Circuit International Automobile Moulay El Hassan 8 May 8 5 9 Race of Germany Nürburgring Nordschleife 28 May 10 6 11 Rosneft Race of Russia Moscow Raceway 12 June 12 7 13 Race of Portugal Circuito Internacional de Vila Real 26 June 14 8 15 Race of Argentina Autódromo Termas de Río Hondo 7 August 16 9 17 JVC Kenwood Race of Japan Twin Ring Motegi 4 September 18 10 19 Race of China Shanghai International Circuit 25 September 20 11 21 Race of Qatar Losail International Circuit 25 November 22 Calendar changes The Race of Thailand was cancelled after the organiser Eurosport Events and the Thai ASN failed to come to an agreement. No replacement race will be held, reducing the calendar to 11 race weekends. [24] Results and standings Compensation weights The most competitive cars keep an 80 kg compensation weight. The other cars get a lower one, calculated according to their results for the three previous rounds. The less the cars get some good results, the less they get a compensation weight, from 0 kg to 80 kg. For the first two rounds, Citroën C-Elysée WTCC had an 80 kg compensation weight. Car Paul Ricard Slovakia Ring Hungaroring Marrakech Nürburgring Moscow Vila Real Termas de Río Hondo Motegi Shanghai Losail Citroën C-Elysée WTCC +80 kg +80 kg +80 kg +80 kg +80 kg +80 kg +80 kg +80 kg +80 kg +80 kg +80 kg Honda Civic WTCC 0 kg 0 kg +70 kg +40 kg +40 kg +30 kg +60 kg +60 kg +80 kg +60 kg +30 kg Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg +10 kg 0 kg +10 kg 0 kg 0 kg Lada Vesta WTCC 0 kg 0 kg +50 kg +30 kg +40 kg +20 kg +70 kg +50 kg +50 kg 0 kg 0 kg Volvo S60 Polestar TC1 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg Races Race Race Name MAC3 winner Pole Position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team Winning manufacturer Independent winner Report 1 Race of France Citroën Robert Huff Robert Huff Castrol Honda Honda Mehdi Bennani Report 2 José María López Yvan Muller José María López Citroën Racing Citroën Mehdi Bennani 3 Race of Slovakia Citroën Honda Robert Huff Tiago Monteiro Castrol Honda Honda Mehdi Bennani Report 4 Yvan Muller José María López José María López Citroën Racing Citroën Mehdi Bennani 5 Race of Hungary Honda José María López Mehdi Bennani Sébastien Loeb Racing Citroën Mehdi Bennani Report 6 José María López José María López José María López Citroën Racing Citroën Tom Chilton 7 Race of Morocco Citroën Hugo Valente Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet Tom Coronel Report 8 Robert Huff Gabriele Tarquini José María López[N 1] Citroën Racing Citroën Mehdi Bennani 9 Race of Germany Honda Tom Chilton José María López Citroën Racing Citroën Tom Chilton Report 10 José María López Mehdi Bennani José María López Citroën Racing Citroën Tom Chilton 11 Race of Russia Honda Nick Catsburg Gabriele Tarquini Lada Sport Rosneft Lada James Thompson Report 12 Nick Catsburg Ferenc Ficza Nick Catsburg Lada Sport Rosneft Lada James Thompson 13 Race of Portugal Citroën José María López Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet Tom Coronel Report 14 Tiago Monteiro Robert Huff Tiago Monteiro Castrol Honda Honda Mehdi Bennani 15 Race of Argentina Honda José María López Tom Chilton Sébastien Loeb Racing Citroën Tom Chilton Report 16 José María López José María López José María López Citroën Racing Citroën Tom Coronel 17 Race of Japan Citroën Thed Björk Norbert Michelisz Honda Racing Team JAS Honda Tom Chilton Report 18 José María López José María López Yvan Muller Citroën Racing Citroën Mehdi Bennani 19 Race of China Honda Thed Björk Thed Björk Polestar Cyan Racing Volvo Tom Coronel Report 20 José María López José María López José María López Citroën Racing Citroën Mehdi Bennani 21 Race of Qatar Citroën Gabriele Tarquini Gabriele Tarquini Lada Sport Rosneft Lada Tom Chilton Report 22 Mehdi Bennani Nick Catsburg Mehdi Bennani Sébastien Loeb Racing Citroën Mehdi Bennani Championship standings Drivers' championship Pos. Driver FRA SVK HUN MAR GER RUS PRT ARG JPN CHN QAT  Pts.  1 José María López 6 1^1 5 1^3 13 1^1 2 1^1 1 1^1 5 8 5 5^5 5 1^1 4 2^1 4 1^1 9 3^3 381 2 Yvan Muller 13 4^3 7 5^1 12 2 3 2^3 Ret DNS^2 3 11 9 2^2 3 5^4 5 1^2 3 2^3 4 6^4 257 3 Tiago Monteiro 4 2^2 1 2 11 3^4 DSQ DSQ Ret DNS 6 5 10 1^1 4 4 3 3^4 10 8 Ret 5 214 4 Norbert Michelisz 3 3 6 4^4 DNS 10 DSQ DSQ 3 2^4 10 3^5 8 3^3 6 8^2 1 8 2 11 5 4^5 213 5 Mehdi Bennani 2 8 2 6 1 8 6 5 5 5 9 10 4 8 8 7 16 4^3 11 3^4 16 1^1 206 6 Robert Huff 1 6 3 14^5 10 6^3 DSQ DSQ 4 4 7 4 6 4^4 2 3 2 9 9 13 3 8 199 7 Nick Catsburg 8 5^5 11 3^2 3 13 Ret 7^2 9 6 2 1^1 3 7 13 12 7 11 5 4^2 8 14 175 8 Tom Chilton 11 9 9 7 2 5 5 DSQ 2 3^5 14 16 2 10 1 9 8 6^5 Ret 9 2 Ret 163 9 Gabriele Tarquini Ret Ret 4 13 5 Ret 4 3 7 9 1 2^2 12 13 14 13 10 10 16† 5 1 7 147 10 Thed Björk 7 Ret DSQ DSQ 15 4^5 9 10^5 Ret 8 Ret 15 7 6 11 14 6 7 1 7^5 6 2^2 117 11 Tom Coronel 9 11^4 15 9 14 7^2 1 8^4 Ret DNS^3 12 Ret 1 16 7 2^3 17 14 7 10 12 9 111 12 Hugo Valente 5 7 12 Ret 6 9 Ret 4 6 10 4 7^3 Ret 9 Ret Ret Ret 13 6 12 Ret Ret 78 13 Fredrik Ekblom NC 10 10 8 4 11 7 11 8 7 13 12 8 6 47 14 James Thompson 16 11 Ret 6 8 6^4 11 11 9 11 13 12 12 14 10 10 24 15 Néstor Girolami 9 5 12 16 Grégoire Demoustier 10 13 13 12 7 Ret 8 Ret 11 14 16 13 16 12 12 15 17 15 13 17 15 12 11 17 Esteban Guerrieri Ret 6^5 9 18 John Filippi 12 12 14 10 8 12 Ret 9 Ret 12 11 14 15 14 10 10 14 16 Ret 15 14 13 9 19 Robert Dahlgren 13 Ret 16 16 7 Ret 6 20 Ferenc Ficza DNS DNS Ret DNS DSQ DSQ DSQ DSQ 12 13 15 9 14 15 WD WD 18 18 14 16 13 11 2 21 René Münnich 14 Ret 9 14 2 22 Sabine Schmitz 10 11 1  — Dániel Nagy WD WD 17 Ret 15 17 15 19 15 18 11 15 0  — Ryo Michigami 11 17 0 Pos. Driver FRA SVK HUN MAR GER RUS PRT ARG JPN CHN QAT  Pts.  Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not participate (DNP) Excluded (EX) Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap † – Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 75% of the race distance. Championship points were awarded on the results of each race at each event as follows: Position[1]  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   9th   10th  Points[1] 25 18 15 12 10 8 6 4 2 1 Notes ^1 ^2 ^3 ^4 ^5 refers to the classification of the drivers after the qualifying for the main race (second race), where bonus points are awarded 5–4–3–2–1. Manufacturers' Championship Pos. Manufacturer FRA SVK HUN MAR GER RUS PRT ARG JPN CHN QAT  Pts.  M R1 R2 M R1 R2 M R1 R2 M R1 R2 M R1 R2 M R1 R2 M R1 R2 M R1 R2 M R1 R2 M R1 R2 M R1 R2 1 Citroën 1 2 1^1 1 2 1^1 2 1 1^1 1 2 1^1 2 1 1^1 2 5 8^4 1 1 2^2 2 1 1^1 1 4 1^1 Ret 3 1^1 1 2 1^1 957 6 4^3 5 5^3 2 2 3 3^3 5 5^2 9 10^5 5 5^4 3 5^3 5 2^2 4 2^3 4 3^3 2 Honda 3 1 2^2 1 1 2^4 1 10 3^2 DSQ DSQ DSQ 1 3 2^3 1 6 3^3 2 6 1^1 1 2 3^2 2 1 3 1 2 8 DNP 3 4^4 675 3 3^5 3 4^5 11 6^3 DSQ DSQ 4 4 7 4 8 3^3 4 4^4 2 8 9 11 5 5^5 3 Lada 2 5 5^4 Ret 4 3^2 3 3 9^5 2 4 3^2 DNP 6 6^4 3 1 1^1 3 3 7 3 13 12^5 3 7 10^5 2 5 4^2 DNP 1 7 536 8 7 11 13 5 13 Ret 4^5 7 9 2 2^2 12 9 14 13 10 11 6 5^5 8 14 4 Volvo DNP 7 10 DNP 10 8 DNP 4 4^4 DNP 7 10^4 DNP 8 7^5 DNP 13 12 DNP 7 6^5 DNP 11 14 DNP 6 5^4 DNP 1 6^4 DNP 6 2^2 321 NC Ret DSQ DSQ 15 11 9 11 Ret 8 Ret 15 13 Ret 16 16 9 7 8 7 7 Ret Pos. Manufacturer FRA SVK HUN MAR GER RUS PRT ARG JPN CHN QAT  Pts.  Notes Only the two best placed cars of each manufacturer earned points. ^1 ^2 ^3 ^4 ^5 refers to the classification of the drivers in the main race qualification, where bonus points are awarded 5–4–3–2–1. Points were only awarded to the fastest two cars from each manufacturer. In MAC3 points are awarded if 3 cars of the same manufacturer within a 15 seconds gap. MAC3 points were awarded as follows: Position  1st   2nd   3rd  Points 10 8 6 WTCC Trophy WTCC Trophy points are awarded to the first eight drivers classified in each race on the following scale: 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1. One point is awarded to the highest-placed WTCC Trophy competitor in qualifying and for another for the fastest lap in each race. Pos. Driver FRA SVK HUN MAR GER RUS PRT ARG JPN CHN QAT  Pts.  1 Mehdi Bennani 2 8 2 6 1 8 6 5 5 5 9 10 4 8 8 7 16 4 11 3 16 1 190 2 Tom Chilton 11 9 9 7 2 5 5 DSQ 2 3 14 16 2 10 1 8 8 6 Ret 9 2 Ret 155 3 Tom Coronel 9 11 15 9 14 7 1 8 Ret DNS 12 Ret 1 16 7 2 12 14 7 10 12 9 134 4 James Thompson 16 11 Ret 6 8 6 11 11 9 11 13 12 12 14 10 10 93 5 John Filippi 12 12 14 10 8 12 Ret 9 Ret 12 11 14 15 14 10 10 14 16 Ret 15 14 13 83 6 Grégoire Demoustier 10 13 13 12 7 Ret 8 Ret 11 14 16 13 16 12 12 15 17 15 13 17 15 12 76 7 Ferenc Ficza DNS DNS Ret DNS DSQ DSQ DSQ DSQ 12 13 15 9 14 15 18 18 14 16 13 11 45 8 Dániel Nagy WD WD 17 Ret 15 19 15 19 15 18 11 15 21 9 Sabine Schmitz 10 11 12 10 René Münnich 14 Ret 9 14 11 11 Esteban Guerrieri Ret 6 9 Pos. Driver FRA SVK HUN MAR GER RUS PRT ARG JPN CHN QAT  Pts.  WTCC Teams' Trophy All the teams taking part in the championship were eligible to score points towards the Teams' Trophy, with the exception of manufacturer teams, with the first two cars from each team scoring points in each race on the following scale: 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1. Pos Team FRA SVK HUN MAR GER RUS PRT ARG JPN CHN QAT  Pts  1 Sébastien Loeb Racing 2 8 2 6 1 5 5 5 2 3 9 10 2 8 1 7 8 4 11 3 2 1 334 10 9 9 7 2 8 6 Ret 5 5 14 13 4 10 8 8 16 6 13 9 15 12 2 ROAL Motorsport 9 11 15 9 14 7 1 8 Ret DNS 12 Ret 1 16 7 2 12 14 7 10 12 9 131 3 ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport 14 Ret 16 11 9 14 Ret 6 10 11 8 6 11 11 9 11 13 12 12 14 10 10 117 4 Campos Racing 12 12 14 10 8 12 Ret 9 Ret 12 11 14 15 14 10 6 14 16 Ret 15 14 13 95 Ret 10 5 Zengő Motorsport DNS DNS Ret DNS DSQ DSQ DSQ DSQ 12 13 15 9 14 15 15 19 15 18 14 16 11 11 75 WD WD 17 Ret 18 19 15 18 13 15 Pos Team FRA SVK HUN MAR GER RUS PRT ARG JPN CHN QAT  Pts  Regulation changes The sporting regulations were approved by the FIA, at the December 2015 meeting of the World Motor Sport Council.[25] Sporting regulations The reverse grid race of the weekend was switched from race two to race one, with the length of race two being increased by one lap. A new qualifying time trial format was introduced for manufacturers, titled Manufacturers Against the Clock (MAC3), to be held at the end of the regular three-part qualifying session. Compensation weight for the most successful car was increased to 80 kg. See also 2016 European Touring Car Cup Footnotes The original winner Robert Huff. However, he was disqualified in the Honda cars of the technical regulation violations. References 2016 Sporting regulations – FIA World Touring Car Championship Klein, Jamie (6 December 2015). "Huff expecting major step from Lada in 2016". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 14 December 2015. "Lada confirms its 2016 WTCC driver line-up". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. 2 February 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2016. "20 car entry announced for the 2016 World Touring Car Championship season". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. 2 March 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2016. "Honda sign Rob Huff, Tiago Monteiro & Norbert Michelisz for 2016". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. 13 January 2016. "Honda enters fourth car for Japanese race". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. 21 July 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2016. "Citroën to finish its WTCC programme at the end of 2016". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. 19 November 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2015. "Volvo announce multi-year WTCC programme with the S60 Polestar TC1". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. 13 October 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2015. "Thed Björk and Fredrik Ekblom confirmed as Volvo drivers for 2016". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. 15 December 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2015. "Dahlgren returns to WTCC replacing Ekblom in Volvo". Motorsport.com. 22 June 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2016. "Determined Girolami earns factory WTCC chance in Japan". World Touring Car Championship. 22 August 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-09-23. Retrieved 22 August 2016. "Sébastien Loeb Racing could run three cars in 2016". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. 25 November 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2015. "Tom Chilton signs with Sébastien Loeb Racing for 2016 WTCC". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. 4 February 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016. "Grégoire Demoustier joins Sébastien Loeb Racing for 2016". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. 3 December 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2015. Hudson, Neil (8 April 2016). "James Thompson makes WTCC return with Münnich Motorsport Chevrolet". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 8 April 2016. "John Filippi present sur la grille du WTCC 2016". Oscaro. Twitter Inc. 9 February 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2016. "Argentinean Guerrieri gets dream WTCC chance". World Touring Car Championship. 20 July 2016. Archived from the original on 20 September 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2016. "Ferenc Ficza and Daniel Nagy confirmed for Zengo". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. 29 March 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2016. "FIA ETCC Nurburgring Nordschleife Entry List 2016" (PDF). TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-10-10. Retrieved 7 July 2016. "Sébastien Loeb Racing will also run Peugeots at the Nordschleife". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. 20 April 2016. "FIA confirms details of the 2016 WTCC calendar". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. 2 December 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2015. Allen, Peter (8 January 2016). "Dutch F4 concept to form part of SMP series from 2016". Paddock Scout. Retrieved 8 January 2016. "WTCC 2016 calendar adjusted". World Touring Car Championship. 9 February 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-03-06. Retrieved 9 February 2016. Hudson, Neil (28 September 2016). "WMSC confirms cancellation of Race of Thailand, José María López confirmed champion". TouringCarTimes. Retrieved 1 October 2016. Abbott, Andrew (2 December 2015). "Sporting regulations tweaked for the 2016 WTCC season". TouringCars.Net. Retrieved 2 December 2015. External links Official website of the World Touring Car Championship