2011 WTCC calendar

At the same meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council that ratified the 2011 Formula 1 calendar, the dates for the 2011 World Touring Car Championship were also agreed.



The big changes are that the Belgian race at Zolder disappears, while the Portuguese and Japanese rounds move to Porto and Suzuka respectively. New venues are Buenos Aires in Argentina and a yet to be confirmed Chinese circuit. A Mexican round has failed to reappear on the schedule, following the enforced cancellation of this year’s event at Puebla due to security fears in the region.



The WMSC also confirmed that next season 1.6 litre turbo cars will be eligible to compete alongside the existing Super 2000 and Diesel 2000 cars.

2011 WTCC calendar
Date	Race
20 March	Curitiba, Brazil
03 April	Buenos Aires, Argentina
15 May	Monza, Italy
05 June	Marrakech, Morocco
19 June	Brno, Czech Republic
03 July	Porto, Portugal
17 July	Brands Hatch, Great Britain
31 July	Oschersleben, Germany
04 September	Valencia, Spain
23 October	Suzuka, Japan
05 November	TBA, China
20 November	Macao, China

2010 WTCC points

The FIA has changed the points system for the World Touring Car Championship.



Instead of the top eight finishers scoring (allocated on a 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 basis), the first ten will now be awarded points:



1st: 25 points

2nd: 18 points

3rd: 15 points

4th: 12 points

5th: 10 points

6th: 8 points

7th: 6 points

8th: 4 points

9th: 2 points

10th: 1 point



This brings the WTCC in line with the new system already adopted by F1 and the World Rally Championship for the 2010 season.

The much larger points disparity - especially for the podium positions - is designed to push drivers to battle on, as just one place difference could have a big impact on their overall standing.



Arguably, given the already close racing in touring cars, that’s more applicable to F1 than the WTCC.

Diminished entries for WTCC

The FIA has published the entry list for the 2010 World Touring Car Championship. The grid is down to twenty cars, following the withdrawal of the Seat and Lada works teams and a reduction in the BMW factory effort from five to two cars.  The Spanish manufacturer however remains committed to supporting privateers running the Leon.



By contrast organisers are surprised at the absence of Lada, as only last year it committed to a three-year programme.  Perhaps it would have been more surprising if the Russian manufacturer had decided to participate, given its circumstances.  Lada’s parent company Avtovaz was facing bankruptcy, its problems caused by dramatically reduced demand and mounting debts.  Only a bail-out by Renault and the Russian state in November 2009 kept it going.



Gabriele Tarquini, who at 47 was the oldest World Champion ever when he won the WTCC title in 2009, will be returning to defend his title, driving a diesel Seat Leon run by SR-Sport.  Three-time champion Andy Priaulx will again be at the wheel of his BMW 320si, doubtless hoping he’ll be better able to challenge the Seats in 2010.

The full entry list is:



1 SR-Sport / Gabriele Tarquinii (ITA) / SEAT Leon 2.0 TDI

2 SR-Sport / Tom Coronel (NED) / SEAT Leon 2.0 TDI

3 SR-Sport / Tiago Monteiro (POR) / SEAT Leon 2.0 TDI

4 SR-Sport / Jordi Gene (ESP) / SEAT Leon 2.0 TDI

5 Zengo-Dension Team / Norbert Michelisz (HUN) / SEAT Leon 2.0 TDI

6 Chevrolet / Yvan Muller (FRA) / Chevrolet Cruze LT

7 Chevrolet / Robert Huff (GBR) / Chevrolet Cruze LT

8 Chevrolet / Alain Menu (SUI) / Chevrolet Cruze LT

10 BMW Team RBM / Augusto Farfus (BRA) / BMW 320si

11 BMW Team RBM / Andy Priaulx (GBR) / BMW 320si

15 Liqui Moly Team Engstler / Franz Engstler (GER) / BMW 320si

16 Liqui Moly Team Engstler / Andrei Romanov (RUS) / BMW 320si

17 SUNRED Engineering / Michel Nykjar (DEN) / SEAT Leon 2.0 TDI

19 bamboo-engineering / Harry Vaulkhard (GBR) / Chevrolet Lacetti

20 bamboo-engineering / Darryl O'Young (HKG) / Chevrolet Lacetti

21 Wiechers-Sport / Mehdi Bennani (MAR) / BMW 320si

23 Colak Racing / Marin Colak (CRO) / SEAT Leon 2.0 TFSI

24 Poulsen Motorsport / Kristian Poulsen (DEN) / BMW 320si

25 Scuderia Proteam Motorsport / Sergio Hernandez (ESP) / BMW 320si

26 Scuderia Proteam Motorsport / Stefano D'Aste (ITA) / BMW 320si



Curitiba, Brazil hosts the first race of the season on 7 March.