WTCR: premiere in Morocco without a Swiss
STARTING THE TCR WORLD CUP For the time being, there is no Swiss in the field of the WTCR World Touring Car Cup, which replaces the World Touring Car Championship (FIA WTCC) with TCR cars. Stefano Comini and Alain Menu have not yet been found, Kris Richard is planning guest starts. But perhaps more will come. From the TCR International Series, which Stefano Comini joined in the first two years of 2015 and 2016 [...]
The TCR International Series, in which Stefano Comini made his mark as champion in the first two years of 2015 and 2016, has become the Touring Car World Cup called WTCR. This replaces the FIA WTCC, but will probably not receive World Championship status until 2019 or 2020.
This does not detract from the quality of the field. The variety of brands is greater than in the WTCC past. With Thed Björk, Rob Huff, Yvan Muller and Gabriele Tarquini, four world champions plus many other winning drivers are on the grid - but unfortunately, at least for the time being, no Swiss.
Alain Menu had long been under the belief that he would be signed up to test the new Hyundai i30 N TCR by development team BRC Racing for 2018 after two good race performances in the fall of 2017.
Alain Menu: "For me, it was clear until the turn of the year that they would keep Gabriele Tarquini and me, after this had been held out in prospect. Then, when asked, I suddenly received a rejection, but without any specific reason. Instead, they took another driver in addition to Tarquini. I was surprised and disappointed - but that's life."
What is Stefano Comini up to?
The Geneva native, who has been living in Scotland for three years and has won more major touring car races in his career than any other Swiss, did not find an alternative even in the English BTCC championship with similar cars. "I'm not looking and I'm not paying to drive," Menu emphasizes.
Stefano Comini has also been without a flounce in the WTCR so far. However, the man from Ticino has something in the pipeline, but he's not yet saying what or where. We'll let ourselves be surprised.
As AutoSprintCH already reported, Kris Richard will compete in TCR Europe in 2018 on a Hyundai. As a connoisseur of the Nordschleife (ETCC race win in 2016), the driver from Bern hopes to be considered as the third driver on a Hyundai team (BRC or Yvan Muller Racing) at the German WTRC race as part of the 24 Hours of Nürburgring. In addition to the 26 WTCR regular drivers, there are in fact wild cards for each race.
Races on four continents
With events in Africa, Europe, South America and Asia, the Touring Car World Cup will be held on four continents. As a novelty, three rounds are held per race weekend with different points scoring.
The season kicks off next weekend with the race in Marrakech, Morocco. Further European races are then scheduled for April 29 in Budapest (H), May 11 at the Nürburgring, May 21 in Zandvoort (NL) and June 24 in Vila Real (P).
The South American guest race will be held on August 5 at Termas de Río Hondo in Argentina. The final four rounds will be held in Asia, first two in China (Ningbo and Wuhan), then in Japan (Suzuka). Another undoubtedly spectacular finale will be held on November 17/18 on the Macau street circuit.
Just like the WTCC in the past, Eurosport will be reporting on the WTCR on free TV. It's definitely worth tuning in - even without Swiss participation!
