| World Touring Car Championship | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Category | Touring cars |
| Country or region | International |
| Inaugural season | 1987 |
| Drivers | 50 (2006) |
| Teams | 21 (2006) |
| Constructors | 7 (2006) |
| Drivers' champion |  Andy Priaulx |
| Teams' champion | N/A |
| Makes' champion | BMW |
| Official website | fiawtcc.com |
The World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) is an international Touring Car championship organized by the FIA. Touring car racing is a general term for a number of distinct Auto racing competitions in heavily-modified street cars International or internationally most often describes interaction between Nations or encompassing two or more nations constituting a group or association having Andrew Graham Priaulx, MBE (born Guernsey, 8 August 1974) is a racing driver European Touring Car Championship champion ( BMW) (Bavarian Motor Works is an independent German automobile manufacturer founded in 1916 Touring car racing is a general term for a number of distinct Auto racing competitions in heavily-modified street cars
The first WTCC, which was open to Group A Touring Cars, was held in 1987 concurrent to the long-running European Touring Car Championship (ETCC). In relation to Motorsport governed by the FIA, Group A referred to a set of regulations providing production-derived vehicles for outright competition The European Touring Car Championship was an international Touring car racing series organized by the FIA. Additional rounds were held outside Europe at Bathurst in Australia, Calder Park Raceway in Australia (using both the road course and the then newly constructed Thunderdome), Wellington in New Zealand and Mount Fuji in Japan. The Bathurst 1000 (currently officially known as the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000) is a touring car race held annually at Mount Panorama Circuit Calder Park Raceway is a motor racing circuit in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Wellington 500 was a street race for touring cars which took place at Wellington City in Wellington, New Zealand. Fuji Speedway is a race track standing in the foothills of Mount Fuji, in Oyama, Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan The Drivers Championship was won by Roberto Ravaglia in a BMW M3 and the Entrants Championship was won by the Eggenberger Texaco Ford No 7 entry, which was a Ford Sierra. Roberto Ravaglia (born May 26, 1957, in Venice, Italy) currently runs BMW 's Team Italy-Spain in the World Touring The BMW M3 is a high performance BMW M GmbH version of the popular BMW 3-Series compact Automobile. The WTCC lasted only one year and was a victim of its own success - the FIA feared it would take money away from Formula 1 and stopped sanctioning the Championship.
In 1993, with the high popularity of the Supertouring category, the FIA hosted the FIA World Touring Car Cup - an annual event for touring car drivers hailing from national championships all over the world. Supertouring, Class 2 or Class II Touring Cars were the rules laid out by the FIA for national Touring car racing in 1994 based on the 2 The 1993 race at Monza was won by Paul Radisich, at the wheel of a Ford Mondeo with no manufacturer title awarded. Autodromo Nazionale Monza is a Motorsport Race track near the town of Monza, Italy, north of Milan. Paul Radisich (born October 9 1962 in Auckland) is a New Zealand Racing driver of Croat origin The race was run for two more years, (won by Paul Radisich again in 1994 at Donington Park in a Ford Mondeo, manufacturer title went to BMW, and Frank Biela in 1995 at Paul Ricard in an Audi A4 Quattro, and manufacturer title went to Audi) before disappearing into obscurity. Donington Park is a site near Castle Donington in North West Leicestershire, England, owned by Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd Frank Biela (born August 2 1964 in Neuss, Germany) is an Auto racing driver mainly competing in Touring cars and The Paul Ricard Circuit is a Motorsport Race track built at Le Castellet, near Marseille, France, in 1969 with finance from the
In 2001, the ETCC was resumed with support from the FIA. At the request of interested manufacturers, it was changed to the current WTCC beginning with the 2005 season, and is now considered the third most important FIA championship after Formula One and the World Rally Championship. History Early The World Rally Championship was formed from well-known international rallies nine of which were previously part of the International Championship
With rounds at major prestigious circuits, the series is heavily supported by car manufacturers BMW, Chevrolet and SEAT, with Alfa Romeo also involved. ( BMW) (Bavarian Motor Works is an independent German automobile manufacturer founded in 1916 Chevrolet (ˌʃɛvroʊˈleɪ - French origin (also known as Chevy) is a Brand of Automobile, produced by General Motors (GM SEAT SA ( English pronunciation:, "say-at" Spanish pronunciation:) is a Spanish automobile Alfa Romeo Automobiles SpA is an Italian Automaker founded in 1910 It features compact and midsize cars based on Group N rules, yet modified to Super 2000 regulations, an intermediate level between the slightly modified Superproduction cars and the extinct Supertouring class. In relation to Motorsport governed by the FIA, Group N refers to a set of regulations providing 'standard' production vehicles for competition often referred to as Super 2000, also known as S2000, is an FIA specification and classification for production based race cars
Following the trend of recent FIA rules, cost control is a major theme in the technical regulation. Engines are limited to 2000 cc. A cubic centimetre or cubic centimeter (symbol cm3 —the abbreviation cc, though widely used is deprecated is a commonly used unit of Volume Many technologies that have featured in production cars are not allowed, including variable valve timing, variable intake geometry, ABS brakes and traction control. Variable valve timing, or VVT, is a generic term for an Automobile Piston engine technology Variable Length Intake Manifold ( VLIM) is an Automobile Engine manifold technology An anti-lock braking system, or ABS (from the German, A nti' b' lockier' s' ystem) is a safety system on Motor vehicles A traction control system ( TCS) also known as Anti-Slip Regulation ( ASR) on current production Vehicles are typically (but not necessarily
Guernseyman Andy Priaulx is the current series champion, and has now won three consecutive titles in the category, in addition to the ETCC title as it was in its prevoius format in 2004. The Bailiwick of Guernsey (Bailliage de Guernesey is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy. Andrew Graham Priaulx, MBE (born Guernsey, 8 August 1974) is a racing driver European Touring Car Championship champion The European Touring Car Championship was an international Touring car racing series organized by the FIA. This now means he has won 4 consecutive FIA touring car titles making him one of the most successful touring car drivers the sport has ever known.
Contents |
Previous champions
| WTCC Drivers' Champions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Driver | Team | Car | ||
| 2008 | |||||
| 2007 | Andy Priaulx | BMW Team UK/Racing Bart Mampaey | BMW 320si | ||
| 2006 | Andy Priaulx | BMW Team UK/Racing Bart Mampaey | BMW 320si | ||
| 2005 | Andy Priaulx | BMW Team UK/Racing Bart Mampaey | BMW 320i | ||
| 1987 |  Roberto Ravaglia | Schnitzer Motorsport | BMW M3 | ||
| WTCC Manufacturers' Champions | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Manufacturer | ||
| 2008 | |||
| 2007 |  BMW | ||
| 2006 | BMW | ||
| 2005 | BMW | ||
| WTCC Entrants' Champions (1987) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Entrant | Car | |||
| 1987 |  | Eggenberger Texaco Ford No 7 | Ford Sierra RS Cosworth Ford Sierra RS 500 | ||
| FIA World Touring Car Cup (1993-1995) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Winning driver | Winning car | Winning manufacturer | Track |
| 1995 | Frank Biela | Audi A4 quattro | Audi |  Paul Ricard |
| 1994 |  Paul Radisich | Ford Mondeo | BMW | Donington Park |
| 1993 | Paul Radisich | Ford Mondeo | no title | Monza |
See also
References
Autosport, January 14, 1988
External links
World Touring Car Championship |
|---|
| 1987 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
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