Following a one-year hiatus, world-level touring car racing returns to the line-up of FIA motor sport series. Resulting from an agreement between the FIA, the governing body of world motor sport, and WSC Group, the global rights holder for the TCR trademark, the TCR World Tour has been elevated to status of an FIA competition ahead of its second season of existence.
The TCR World Tour concept was introduced in 2023, consisting of nine rounds around the world, and with the competitors joining the grid of existing national- or regional-level touring car series running TCR-spec cars.
From 2024, the series will be known as Kumho FIA TCR World Tour, with the agreement covering a three-year period. Race formats and durations will vary, adapting to the regulations of a given series which hosts the round of the World Tour.
The competition will utilise Kumho tyres, which are in use in the majority of TCR series around the world.
NINE ROUNDS AND SIX CONTINENTS IN STORE
The inaugural Kumho FIA TCR World Tour will feature nine events, with the geographical reach of the series set to increase from four to six continents as the competition gained FIA recognition, and with Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America all represented on the 2024 schedule. The nine-round schedule will be followed by the FIA TCR World Ranking Final, with the date and venue of that competition to be announced in due course.
Marek Nawarecki, FIA Senior Circuit Sport Director, said: “Being present on six different continents is a great start as we are set for the return of world-level FIA touring car racing. The format that Kumho FIA TCR World Tour will rely on next year is something that will help to build bridges between national- and regional-level touring car series and the pinnacle of touring car racing, creating a healthy ecosystem for this form of racing. The FIA will bring its regulatory framework to TCR World Tour, overseeing Sporting and Technical Regulations and their application, which is essential given that events of different local series on the calendar have their respective differences.”
Alan Gow, FIA Touring Car Commission President, said: “Over the years, world touring car racing has been undergoing constant evolution, with different technical regulations and formats utilised, and with FIA titles decided either through a series or at a single event. Given that TCR is a proven set of technical regulations with a strong customer racing platform, the concept behind the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour is something that made a lot of sense for the FIA to support it, and we look forward to its success.”
Marcello Lotti, WSC President, said: “We are immensely proud that, after only one racing season, the concept of the Kumho TCR World Tour has already met with general approval from the motor sport community. 2023 has been successful thanks to the trust and support of the promoters of several national and regional TCR championships, the manufacturers, teams and drivers. To now be able to award an FIA title is the icing on the cake and provides us with powerful motivation to do our utmost to make this platform even stronger and more popular. Which is why our first efforts have been to focus on putting together an ambitious and attractive calendar for the next season. A string of nine events that makes the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour the first ever international series for touring cars to visit six continents.”
Recent history of FIA world touring car racing includes WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup, which ran TCR specification cars from 2018 to 2022, and the FIA World Touring Car Championship, which existed from 2005 to 2017, using S2000 and later TC1 technical regulations. Prior to that, the FIA’s top touring car competitions were often held as one-off events gathering the best drivers from various national touring car series.
Source : Fia
