Touring car racing
DMSB, CAMS and many more | |
Characteristics | |
---|---|
Contact | Yes |
Team members | Yes |
Mixed-sex | Yes |
Type | Outdoor |
Venue | Road and street courses |
Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition that uses race prepared touring cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States.
While the cars do not move as fast as those in
As well as short "sprint" races, many touring car series include one or more endurance races, which last anything from 3 to 24 hours and are a test of reliability and pit crews as much as car, driver speed, and consistency.
Characteristics
This section needs additional citations for verification. (September 2023) |
Touring car racing started in the mid twentieth century as a long-format style of competition that took place on public roads between numerous towns. The cars were crewed by a driver and, because of their unreliability, a mechanic who carried tools and spares. The legacy of these beginnings can still be seen in modern touring and GT cars - the driver sits offset from the centreline of the car and there is space for a second seat (although they are rarely fitted any more).
While rules vary from country to country, most series require that the competitors start with a standard
Touring cars share some similarity with American stock car racing governed by NASCAR. However, touring cars are, at least notionally, derived from production cars while today's NASCAR vehicles are based on a common design.[1][2] Touring car racing is also referred to as saloon car racing.[3]
Series of competition
FIA TCR World Tour
Worldwide
Modern World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) started in
Running at major international racing facilities, this series is supported by BMW, SEAT and Chevrolet. The latter fields a works team, whereas the other two only sell racing kits to be installed on their cars, providing technical support to their customers. In 2011, Volvo also entered the championship, fielding a one-car team as an evaluation for a possible heavier commitment to the series. The World Touring Car Championship features 1.6-litre cars built to Super 2000 regulations based on FIA Group N.
Following the trend of recent FIA rules, cost control is a major theme in the technical regulation. In 2011 the rules concerning the engine capacity have changed, switching from 2000 cc to 1600 cc turbo engines. Cars equipped with the old 2000 cc engines are still eligible in the championship. Many technologies that have featured in production cars are not allowed, for example: variable valve timing, variable intake geometry, ABS braking and traction control.
British Touring Car Championship
United Kingdom
The British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) currently competes at nine circuits in the UK with cars built to
Prior to 2001 the BTCC was contested by cars built to 2.0-litre supertouring regulations and had in its heyday up to nine different manufacturers.
DTM
Germany/Europe
The DTM series, the initials standing for Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft until 1996, then following a hiatus, revived as Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters in 2000, features advanced purpose built 2.0-litre
More than 20 works-backed entries of the
For the 2019 season, major technical changes occurred. Turbochargers were reintroduced in accordance with new regulations impacting engines and power outputs, as all cars are now required to have 2.0-litre 4-cylinder single turbo engines, replacing the 4.0L V8s that had been used since the series' revival in 2000. Engine power was increased from ~500 hp to 610 hp, with an extra 30 hp available as part of a push-to-pass system available to drivers for the first time.[10][11] Downforce levels were also reduced to encourage overtaking and increase top speeds to 300 km/h (186 mph) in order to improve the racing spectacle.[12]
In 2019, DTM formed a partnership with the Japanese sports car series
Audi announced in late April 2020 that they would be discontinuing their involvement in the series after the end of the 2020 season, following the same path Mercedes-Benz did after the end of the 2018 season; focusing on electric motorsport, most notably Formula E. This will leave BMW as the sole manufacturer left, putting the series' future in serious jeopardy.[14]
Nürburgring NLS Endurance Racing Series
Germany
Since 1997, and nowadays still on the over 20 kilometres (12 mi) long famous old
Sweden/Denmark
Between
, and Honda.Supercars Championship
Australia and New Zealand
Formerly the Australian Touring Car Championship, Supercars are recognised internationally as the 'fastest touring cars in the world' racing at speeds that can reach nearly 300 km/h. They are also the most expensive touring cars in the world with each car costing in excess of $1 million (AUD) which includes bespoke $250,000 (AUD) 5.0-litre V8 engines producing approximately 635 hp (473 kW).[15] The current formula was devised in 1993 (based on Group A regulations) and branded as 'V8 Supercars' in 1997 and 'Supercars' in 2016. The series features grids of approximately 25 cars, although selected events feature wildcard entries which add to the grid. The cars are currently based on the Ford Mustang GT and Holden Commodore (ZB)[16] The minimum weight for a Supercar including driver is 1,395 kg (3,075 lb).[17] The Commodore will be replaced by a Chevrolet Camaro in 2022.[18] The race cars themselves are derived from production body panels and space frame chassis. Both body styles feature an aerodynamic package incorporating large front and rear wings designed to ensure equal aerodynamic performance between the two vehicle types.[19]
The series incorporates the world famous
In Australia, Supercars enjoys a strong support base that is still driven in large part by the tribal Ford versus Holden battle.[20] Over 200,000 total spectators attend the four-day Adelaide 500 and Bathurst 1000 events, and the 2019 Bathurst 1000 drew a maximum of 2.36 million television viewers across the country.[21][22] This compares favourably with other major sporting events such as the AFL Grand Final with 2.2 million TV viewers in 2019.[23] Supercars is also popular in New Zealand,[24] with a regular round formerly held in the country (previously held at Pukekohe) being the only international event on the series calendar. Attempts at further international expansion were made in China, Malaysia, the Middle East, and the United States during the 2000s and 2010s, none of which have survived.[25][26][27][28][29]
As the series has grown, major international motorsport organisations have become involved such as
Both Ford and Holden financially and technically supported their favoured teams and took an active role in promotion of the series from its beginning, but began to wind back and ultimately withdraw their financial commitments approximately in line with the decline in sales and eventual discontinuation of the Falcon in 2016[30] and Commodore in 2020 (the two models that exclusively competed in the V8 formula from 1993 to 2012).[31][32][33] Ford withdrew all financial support after 2015,[34] and Holden cut most of its support back to only the Red Bull Holden Racing Team from 2017.[35] Holden was shut down as a brand during 2020, ending its factory involvement in Supercars after the 2020 season,[36] while Ford returned for the 2019 season with the Mustang project.[37] The Commodore will be replaced with a Chevrolet Camaro, which will be sold in Australia by General Motors Specialty Vehicles.
Other manufacturers have also appeared in the series, including Nissan with Kelly Racing,[38] Volvo with Garry Rogers Motorsport,[39] and Mercedes-Benz in a non-factory-supported program from Erebus Motorsport.[40] With Kelly Racing's switch to Ford Mustangs for 2020[41] after a year of running its Nissan Altimas privately,[42] Supercars reverted to a two-make Ford vs. Holden competition.
Other series
Americas
- TC 2000 Championship(1979–present)
- TC 2000 (Colombia) (2004–present)
- TC America Series- during the SpeedVision/Speed Channel era, the "touring cars" in this series were lower performance vehicles modified to almost the same extent as the American Le Mans Series and Rolex Sports Car Series caliber grand touring cars. After the touring cars became a BMW-Mazda-Acura affair, the series was reformatted to include a new touring car class mostly sharing Grand Am's Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge vehicles. Shortly later, a lesser "B-Spec" group was added. After acquisition by SRO, TC America was separated from World Challenge.
- Canadian Touring Car Championship
- Costa Rica Touring Car Championship
- CDCC Dominican National Championship
- U.S. Touring Car Championship
- Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge- features both a sports car based "grand sport" class and a touring car based "street tuner" class.
- Stock Car Brasil (1979–present, link)
- American Touring Car Championship (2009–present)
- Copa Petrobras de Marcas (link)
Europe
- DMSB-Produktionswagen-Meisterschaft (DPM) with ETCCrules (1995–2017)
- Renault Eurocup Mégane Trophy
- European Touring Car Cup, held at various European circuits since 2005
- Baltic Touring Car Championship
- Finnish Touring Car Championship (1987–present)
- Irish Touring Car Championship
- Portuguese Touring Car Championship
- Russian Touring Car Championship
- Cruze Cup (One-make series)[citation needed]
Asia-Pacific
- Super GT (1993–present)
- Hong Kong Touring Car Championship (2002–present)
- Philippine Touring Car Championship (formerly the PNTCC)
- China Touring Car Championship
- Macau Touring Car Championship (? –present)
- Malaysia Championship Series (2014–present)
- Thailand Super Series (2013–present)
- NZ Touring Cars
- Super2 Series
- Super3 Series, link
- Saturday Night Fever Challenge Series - Malaysia (Club Event Series)
- Volkswagen Vento Cup India (2011–present)
Africa
- Global Touring Car Championship
Former series
- The old World Touring Car Championship, plagued by lack of support from the FIA, raced under the Group A regulations in 1987.
- Germany's former DMSB-Produktionswagen-Meisterschaft (DPM) until 2005
- Asian Touring Car Championship(2000–2002, 2005–2011)
- Benelux Racing League 2004–2009
- Belgian Touring Car Series, last season in 2011.
- Australian Super Touring Championship ran from 1993 to 2001.
- Japanese Touring Car Championship (JTCC) ran from 1994 through 1998.
- Super Tourenwagen Cup (STW) ran from 1994 through 1999.
- North American Touring Car Championship (NATCC) ran from 1996 to 1997.
- Swedish Touring Car Championship (1996–2010)
- South American Super Touring Car Championship ran from 1997 through 2000.
- Norwegian Touring Car Championship
- Danish Touring Car Championship(1999–2010)
- Italian Superturismo Championship (1987–1999, 2003–2008)
- Superstars Series (2004–2013)
- French Supertouring Championship (Championnat de France de Supertourisme), last season in 2005.
- Campeonato Español de Turismos (Spanish Touring Car Championship) ran from 1959 to 1998.
- Bankfin Touring Car Championship (South African Touring Car Championship) which ended in 2000.
- Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (1984–1994) then turned to ITCC by the FIA in 1995, based in heavily modified cars, began to be too expensive and due to retirement from Opel and Alfa Romeo the ITCC series were cancelled in 1996.
- V8Star Series
- New Zealand V8s(1994–2015)
- V8SuperTourer
Famous races
- Bathurst 1000 held at Mount Panorama Circuit since 1963, part of the Supercars Championship (the race was held at Phillip Island from 1960 to 1962)
- Norisring Trophy held at the Norisring for the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters
- Spa 24 Hours since 1924–1989
- VLNseries there
- Guia Race(contested as part of WTCC since 2005)
- Tourist Trophy held until 1988
- Wellington 500, held at the Wellington street circuit between 1985 and 1996
- InterTEC (インターTEC), held at Fuji Speedway as part of the JTCC round through the series duration until the series' demise in 1998
- Cascavel de Ouro (Cascavel de Ouro), held at Autódromo Internacional de Cascavel, since 1967
Rule sets
Different sets of regulations do apply:
- Contemporary touring car racing:
- Historic touring car racing: Supertouring
See also
References
- ^ "What is the NASCAR Car Of Tomorrow?". Nascar.about.com. 4 April 2008. Archived from the original on 20 February 2009. Retrieved 20 August 2009.
- Motor Sport magazine. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
- ^ Lawrence, Paul (19 February 2019). "New series launched celebrating BTCC legends". Autosport. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
- ^ Audi UK (6 May 2009). "Audi UK > Experience > Motorsport > DTM > The Audi A4 DTM". Audi.co.uk. Archived from the original on 3 October 2008. Retrieved 20 August 2009.
- ISBN 9781134650200.
- ^ "Opel to be withdrawn after 2005". au.motorsport.com. 24 October 2004. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
- ^ "BMW to enter DTM series in 2012 with six M3 touring cars | CarAdvice". CarAdvice.com. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
- ^ "Mercedes to quit DTM after 2018, confirms Formula E entry". au.motorsport.com. 24 July 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
- ^ "Aston Martin rules out HWA running Vantages in DTM". au.motorsport.com. 29 January 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
- ^ "RS 5 DTM". audi.com. Archived from the original on 7 March 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
- ^ "BMW M4 DTM Turbomotor". www.bmw-motorsport.com. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
- ^ Errington, Tom. "DTM's Class One cars for 2019 season will be 2-3s faster". Autosport.com. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
- ^ "R-Motorsport to miss DTM and Super GT joint race at Fuji". TouringCarTimes. 14 September 2019. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
- ^ "DTM News: Audi to quit series at the end of 2020". Autosport.com. 27 April 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
- ^ "2020 engine rule changes locked in". Supercars. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
- ^ "CONFIRMED: No Commodore for WAU in 2021". Speedcafe. 23 February 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
- ^ "Weight reduction for Supercars in 2019". Supercars. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
- ^ Pavey, James (16 March 2022). "Tasmania debut for new-look Gen3 Camaro prototype". Supercars. Archived from the original on 16 May 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
- ^ "V8 Supercars blueprint for 2017 and beyond". Supercars. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
- ^ Smale, Simon (19 February 2020). "Will taking away the Ford vs Holden battles kill off Supercars? Not necessarily". ABC News. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
- ^ Adelaide, ABC Radio (24 February 2020). "Adelaide 500 Supercars race has lowest attendance in 17 years". ABC News. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
- ^ "Bathurst delivers ratings record". Supercars. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
- ^ "2.2m as AFL Grand Final tops year so far". TV Tonight. 29 September 2019. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
- ^ "Fans Flock to V8 Supercars at Pukekohe". Supercars. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
- ^ "KL City 400 Supercar Extravaganza cancelled". Supercars. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
- ^ "V8 Supercars and Circuit of the Americas agree to end current contract". Supercars. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
- ^ "V8 Supercars confirms Abu Dhabi cancellation". Speedcafe. 18 January 2013. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
- ^ drive.com.au (10 October 2016). "Winton replaces Shanghai on V8 calendar". Drive. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
- ^ "Early season schedule sees Bahrain dumped". Speedcafe. 29 October 2010. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
- ^ Ottley, Stephen (13 October 2016). "Final Ford Falcon rolls off the line - The final Ford Falcon". Drive. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
- ^ "Holden's flagship Commodore brand reaches the end of the road". ABC News. 10 December 2019. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
- ^ "MOTORSPORT: Holden spending less on V8 Supercars". carsales.com.au. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
- ^ Hand, Guy (3 October 2016). "Ford cuts back on V8 funding". Drive. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
- ^ "Official: Ford out of V8 Supercars!". Supercars. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
- ^ "Holden commits to Supercars". Supercars. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
- ^ "Holden axed in Australia as General Motors gets out of right-hand-drive globally | CarAdvice". CarAdvice.com. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
- ^ "Ford returns to Supercars with Mustang". au.motorsport.com. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
- ^ "OFFICIAL: Nissan to Join V8 Supercars Championship". Archived from the original on 11 February 2012. Retrieved 9 February 2012.
- ^ "Volvo Car Australia Joins V8 Supercars". Supercars. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
- ^ "Mercedes-Benz to join V8 Supercars". Herald Sun. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
- ^ "Kelly Racing confirms 2020 Mustang switch". Supercars. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
- ^ "Supercars: Nissan quits after 2018, what Kelly Racing will race in 2019 and 2020". Fox Sports. 15 May 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2020.