![Gran Turismo 5 demo coming to PSN on Dec 17, GT Academy returns [w/VIDEO]](http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/12/370z-gt-academy_143x85.jpg)
World Touring Car Championship set to kick off in Brazil
The calendar is already showing March and the weather is hinting at spring, so the racing season must be about to explode. NASCAR is already underway, F1 will kick off this weekend in Australia, and ALMS at Sebring the week after. Series like Speed GT and Touring Car, however, will really have the TiVo working overtime. The FIA's World Touring Car Championship is one such series, which begins its 22-race season in Brazil this Sunday. Along with Formula One and the World Rally Championship, WTCC is the only worldwide competition sanctioned by the FIA. That says something about the growing popularity of this type of racing.
Previously a European series, the racing has spread across the globe and is truly a World event for '07. Besides the first two rounds in Curitiba, Brazil, the 2007 WTCC season will see racing at new circuits like Zandvoort, Netherlands; Anderstorp, Sweden; and the street circuits of Pau, France, and Porto, Portugal. Valencia, Brno, Oschersleben, Monza, and Brands Hatch continue on as does Maucau, which will host the finale in November.
Britain's Andy Priaulx, back-to-back WTCC champion, hopes to three-peat this season and thereby make history. After winning the European Championship in '04, the 32-year-old racer went on to win the World Touring Car Championship in 2005 and 2006. He'd be the first British driver to win three FIA world titles in a row. We can't wait to see how the season plays out.
[Source: BMW via AutoMotoPortal]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
oneighturbo 9:25AM (3/10/2007)
will kick off this weekend in Australia, and ALMS at Sebring the week after.
ALMS - Sebring - March 17th
F1 - Australia - March 18th
Reply
dmruth 9:52AM (3/10/2007)
Does anyone know if it will be possible to watch WTCC in the US? I don't see it on SPEED...
Reply
oneighturbo 10:04AM (3/10/2007)
they cover the BTCC in the off season. It's re-aired here on the states as well as DTM.
Reply
oneighturbo 10:03AM (3/10/2007)
opps.
which WTCC is racing this weekend
http://www.fiawtcc.com/fiawtcc/curitiba/2007/result_mtc171846.shtml
Reply
ANdy 10:09AM (3/10/2007)
It's Macau, not Maucau. And like #1 pointed out, F1 starts next weekend...
From what I've watched of the WTCC - i haven't watched much - it looked pretty exciting.
Reply
Bob in Cobb 11:43AM (3/10/2007)
Alex Zanardi is racing in this series with a hand-controlled BMW 320si. He won a couple of races last year in the BMW. For this race is 15th, in a practice, of 20 cars. Zanardi, one of the greatest ever!
Reply
nagmashot 12:02PM (3/10/2007)
WTCC is one of the most fun to watch race series currently...hard driving... door to door, bumper at bumper fights... FWD, RWD all with 2.0l n/a engines ... higly skilled drivers in close to stock car... a rezept that works always... WTCC brings back a little bit the good old days of DTM (early 90´s)
Reply
David Humphries 2:11PM (3/10/2007)
Why can't we watch it in the USA. It is 10 times better than Nascar. The only thing that comes close id Busch series and that is not saying much.
Reply
paul 4:14PM (3/10/2007)
Go Alex Zanardi!
Reply
chris 5:15PM (3/10/2007)
I actually don't like this series much. It just gets so boring as half the tracks are suited to RWD so the BMWs all win, the other half are suited to FWD so all the Alfas with the occasional Seat win.
As you can even see in that picture there, it's a particular track that the BMWs will dominate, leaving all the FWD cars struggling far behind.
I'm far more excited about Super GT starting up again this weekend.
Reply
SolBeam 5:57PM (3/10/2007)
#10 chris
You are totally over generalizing.
There is a in equality in the series because of the BMWs using RWD but that’s also a plus for the series as they are really using stock cars... only really slightly adapted for racing.
There are different rules in place to equal things out and make races more interesting.
1. For every race won the winning team and driver have to put weights in their car.
2. Every race day consists out of two races the first eight of the first race start the second race in reversed order of finishing the first.
Because of the big advantage the RWD BMWs had in Starting from a standstill this year the races will kick of with a rolling start.
Reply
Rocket Punch 8:19PM (3/10/2007)
A. Farfus will be driving for BMW this year, so Alfa will really suck. If Farfus an achieve what he achieved driving an Alfa last year, he will have a big chance to be the champion this year.
Any of you play the RACE WTcc game?
Reply