2020 World Touring Car Cup

The FIA World Touring Car Cup is an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), as the highest class of competition for touring cars. This will be the third season under the "World Cup" banner and 16th overall of the series, which dates back to the 2005 World Touring Car Championship.

2020 World Touring Car Cup
Previous: 2019 Next: 2021

Teams and drivers
Team Car No. Drivers Rounds Ref.
Season entries
BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse Hyundai i30 N TCR 1 Norbert Michelisz TBA [1]
30 Gabriele Tarquini TBA [1]
Cyan Performance Lynk & Co Lynk & Co 03 TCR 5 Santiago Urrutia TBA [2]
11 Thed Björk TBA [3]
Cyan Racing Lynk & Co 68 Yann Ehrlacher TBA [4]
100 Yvan Muller TBA [4]
Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team Hyundai i30 N TCR 8 Luca Engstler TBA [1]
88 Nick Catsburg TBA [1]
ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport Honda Civic Type R TCR (FK8) 9 Attila Tassi TBA [5][6]
18 Tiago Monteiro TBA [5][6]
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport 29 Néstor Girolami TBA [5][6]
86 Esteban Guerrieri TBA [5][6]
Comtoyou Racing Audi RS 3 LMS TCR 16 Gilles Magnus TBA [7]
23 Nathanaël Berthon TBA [8]
31 Tom Coronel TBA [9]
Zengő Motorsport CUPRA León Competición TCR 55 Bence Boldizs TBA [10]
TBA TBA TBA [10]
Wildcard entries

Summary

JAS Motorsport and Honda Racing retained their 2019 drivers – Attila Tassi, Tiago Monteiro, Néstor Girolami and Esteban Guerrieri – for the 2020 season. On 5 March it was announced that all four drivers will compete for Münnich Motorsport, who will expand from two cars last season. To meet series regulations the team will be split into two entities – ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport and ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport – with driver pairings yet to be confirmed. On 2 June announced that Attila Tassi and Tiago Monteiro will join the ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport and Néstor Girolami and Esteban Guerrieri will remain the ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport.[5][11][6]

Volkswagen Motorsport announced that it will cease manufacturer support for the Golf GTI TCR along with all petrol-powered motorsport programmes though the Golf GTI TCR will still be available to private teams. This announcement comes along with the shift of the brand's policy towards electric racing.[12] Sébastien Loeb Racing, which had run four Golf GTI TCR cars during the 2019 season, announced on 31 January 2020 that will leave the series.[13]

Audi will not introduce a successor of the RS 3 LMS for 2020, while also ending their manufacturer support in the series though the RS 3 LMS would be still available to private teams. Days before the announcement, W Racing Team, competing under the Audi Sport Team Leopard Racing banner, announced that it ceases participation in the series after the 2019 season to focus on their racing programmes in GT racing and the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters.[14][15]

Tom Coronel will remain with Comtoyou Racing, but will switch from CUPRA León TCR to Audi RS 3 LMS TCR. Nathanaël Berthon will return to the WTCR driving for Comtoyou Racing.[9][8]

Cyan Racing has committed to run four Lynk & Co 03 TCR cars for the season. On 26 March Yann Ehrlacher and Yvan Muller were confirmed as drivers for Cyan Racing Lynk & Co.[16][4]

Hyundai will be again represented by four Hyundai i30 N TCR entries. BRC Racing Team will scale down to two cars after fielding all four entries last year, entering under the BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse banner for reigning champion Norbert Michelisz and Gabriele Tarquini. Engstler Motorsport will return to the series for the first time since the 2014 season (back when it was called the World Touring Car Championship) fielding the remaining two Hyundai cars under the Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team name for Luca Engstler, who will make his full-season début after entering once as a wildcard entry for the 2019 season as well as being replacement for Augusto Farfus at the Macau race weekend last year, and Nick Catsburg. With these changes, Farfus will leave the team.[1]

CUPRA announced on 3 April 2020 that they would not offer manufacturer support to any team in the 2020 Championship though the new León Competición TCR will be still available to private teams.[17] On 14 May 2020, it was then announced that a CUPRA Leon Competición TCR would compete in the championship, although teams and drivers yet to be named.[18] On 30 May 2020, it was announced that Zengő Motorsport would return to the WTCR, running two new León Competición TCR cars, for Bence Boldizs and a yet-to-be-named driver.[10]

Calendar

A provisional calendar was released on 5 December 2019.[19]

The 2020 championship is due to be contested over 16 races in six rounds in Europe.[20] The season was originally planned to be contested over 20 races in 10 rounds, but this changed due to the coronavirus pandemic.[21]

Round Race Race Name Circuit Date Supporting
1 1 Race of Austria Salzburgring 12 September
2 13 September
2 3 Race of Germany Nürburgring Nordschleife 24 September 24 Hours Nürburgring
Audi R8 LMS Cup
4 25 September
3 5 Race of Slovakia Automotodróm Slovakia Ring 10 October European Truck Racing Championship
6 11 October
7
4 8 Race of Hungary Hungaroring 17 October
9 18 October
10
5 11 Race of Spain Ciudad del Motor de Aragón 31 October PURE ETCR Touring Car Series
12 1 November
13
6 14 Race of Italy Adria International Raceway 14 November
15 15 November
16
Cancelled due to the 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic
Race Name Circuit Original Date Originally Supporting
Race of Morocco Circuit International Automobile Moulay El Hassan 5 April
Race of Portugal Circuito Internacional de Vila Real 21 June
Race of China Ningbo International Circuit 6 September
Race of Korea Inje Speedium 18 October PURE ETCR Touring Car Series
Guia Race of Macau Guia Circuit, Macau 22 November Macau Grand Prix
Race of Malaysia Sepang International Circuit, Sepang 13 December

Rule changes

Technical changes
  • Compensation weight will be measured differently compared to the previous season with now only the qualifying laps will be counted. Previously a combination of both the qualifying and race laps was used to determine the compensation weight. The change comes to avoid teams instructing drivers to set slower race laps. The Balance of Performance parameters for the cars will remain unaffected.[22]
  • Goodyear is set to become the series' tyre supplier, replacing Yokohama after a fourteen-year tenure as Yokohama elected to concentrate on supplying tyres for Super Formula and Super GT championships. Teams will have a set of 18 new tyres for the opening round of the season, with the number being decreased to 12 for the remaining rounds.[23][24]

Sporting changes
  • For the first time since the 2010 World Touring Car Championship, a rookie category will be introduced in the series. Drivers under the age of 23 will be eligible as long as they have not raced in more than three race weekends in the series prior to this season.[22]
  • The three-race schedule, that was used for the last two seasons, was cut down to two, citing cost-cutting measures, reducing the number of races from thirty to twenty. As a result, only a single qualifying session will be held. The race length for Race 2 would be three laps longer than Race 1 as a direct result of the reduced number of events.[24]
  • Teams running two cars are restricted to 12-man personnel with three-car teams allowed 18-man personnel. The number of personnel working on the cars, wearing designated armbands, is restricted to ten.[24]
  • Teams will now be allowed to enter one car for the 2020 season.[25]
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References
  1. "Hyundai confirm Michelisz, Tarquini, Catsburg and Engstler". TouringCarTimes. TouringCarTimes. 16 March 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  2. "Santiago Urrutia completes Lynk & Co Cyan Racing line-up". TouringCarTimes. 28 July 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  3. "Cyan Racing confirm Thed Björk but Andy Priaulx stands down". TouringCarTimes. 15 June 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  4. "Yvan Muller, Yann Ehrlacher confirmed with Lynk & Co Cyan Racing". TouringCarTimes. 26 March 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  5. "Honda re-sign Guerrieri, Girolami, Monteiro and Tassi". TouringCarTimes. TouringCarTimes. 10 January 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  6. "Münnich Motorsport reveal 2020 driver pairings". TouringCarTimes. TouringCarTimes. 2 June 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  7. "Gilles Magnus joins WTCR grid with Comtoyou Racing". TouringCarTimes. TouringCarTimes. 7 July 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  8. "Nathanaël Berthon secures WTCR return with Comtoyou". TouringCarTimes. 5 June 2020. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  9. "Showman the number: Coronel goes for 500 in WTCR 2020". Eurosport. Eurosport. 3 March 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  10. "Zengő Motorsport confirm WTCR return with two-car programme". TouringCarTimes. TouringCarTimes. 30 May 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  11. "Münnich Motorsport confirm expansion to four cars". TouringCarTimes. 2020-03-05. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
  12. "Volkswagen cancels TCR programme to focus on electrification". TouringCarTimes. 2019-11-22. Retrieved 2019-12-13.
  13. "Sébastien Loeb Racing confirm WTCR exit". TouringCarTimes. 2020-01-31. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
  14. "Audi confirm WTCR exit for 2020". TouringCarTimes. 2019-12-11. Retrieved 2019-12-13.
  15. "WRT to end World Touring Car Cup, TCR Europe programmes". TouringCarTimes. 2019-12-09. Retrieved 2019-12-13.
  16. "Lynk & Co Cyan Racing confirm continued four-car programme". TouringCarTimes. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  17. "Cupra rule out WTCR involvement for 2020 season". TouringCarTimes. 3 April 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  18. "Cupra confirm new León Competición TCR for 2020 WTCR grid". TouringCarTimes. 14 May 2020. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  19. "Aragón, Inje-Speedium confirmed on 2020 WTCR calendar". TouringCarTimes. 2019-12-05. Retrieved 2019-12-05.
  20. "Adria joins six-event revised WTCR calendar in Europe only". touringcartimes.com. Touring Car Times. 28 May 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  21. "Marrakech season opener dropped with Salzburgring as replacement". TouringCarTimes. 2020-02-05. Retrieved 2020-05-29.
  22. "Weight rule change and rookie category introduced for 2020". TouringCarTimes. 2019-12-05. Retrieved 2019-12-05.
  23. "Goodyear named new WTCR tyre supplier". TouringCarTimes. 2019-12-20. Retrieved 2019-12-20.
  24. "WTCR announce fewer races and cost cutting measures". TouringCarTimes. 2020-02-18. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  25. "Single car, full season entries invited for 2020 World Touring Car Cup". TouringCarTimes. 8 June 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
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