Wikipedia

2022 World Touring Car Cup

The 2022 World Touring Car Cup was the fifth and final season of the World Touring Car Cup and 18th overall of the series, which dates back to the 2005 World Touring Car Championship. The season began on 7 May at the Circuit de Pau-Ville and ended on 27 November in Jeddah Corniche Circuit,[1][2][3] however multiple event cancellations due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and ongoing quarantine restrictions in Asia. On 1 September 2022, the organiser announced the final version of the calendar, adding Bahrain and Saudi Arabia as final venues for the 2022 season.[3]

The season was marred by issues with tyres as drivers suffered numerous tyre failures on several rounds. These led to the cancellation of the races at the Nürburgring and Cyan Racing withdrawing from the series midway through the year.[4] Only nine drivers completed the full season.[5]

On 14 October 2022, the promoter Discovery Sports Events announced that after five seasons of running the WTCR, the series would be discontinued following the conclusion of the season, which had two rounds remaining in Bahrain (10–12 November) and Saudi Arabia (25–27 November.[6] This resulted in TCR global rights holder WSC Group creating a new format, known as the TCR World Tour, influenced by golf's Official World Golf Ranking, in that all TCR events will be grouped for official TCR World Ranking points, which will be used to qualify drivers into a playoff at the end of the season, and a new format featuring events from different TCR-featured tours where drivers can also qualify for the TCR World Ranking Final.[7]

Teams and drivers

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Team Car No. Drivers Class Rounds Ref.
  BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Hyundai Elantra N TCR 5   Norbert Michelisz All [8]
96   Mikel Azcona All [8]
  Liqui Moly Team Engstler Honda Civic Type R TCR (FK8) 9   Attila Tassi All [9]
18   Tiago Monteiro All [9]
  ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport 29   Néstor Girolami All [9]
86   Esteban Guerrieri All [9]
  Cyan Performance Lynk & Co Lynk & Co 03 TCR 11   Thed Björk 1–6 [10]
12   Santiago Urrutia 1–6 [10]
55   Ma Qing Hua 1–6 [11]
  Cyan Racing Lynk & Co 68   Yann Ehrlacher 1–6 [10]
100   Yvan Muller 1–6 [10]
  Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Audi RS 3 LMS TCR (2021) 16   Gilles Magnus All [12]
25   Mehdi Bennani T 1–8 [12]
72   Franco Girolami T 9 [13]
  Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport 17   Nathanaël Berthon All [12]
33   Tom Coronel T All [12]
  Zengő Motorsport Cupra León Competición TCR 66   Bence Boldizs T 8 [14]
79   Robert Huff T 1–7, 9 [15]
99   Dániel Nagy T 1–5, 7–9 [15]
Wildcard entries
  Comtoyou Racing Audi RS 3 LMS TCR (2021) 24   Ahmed BinKhanen 9 [16]
72   Franco Girolami 8 [17]
110   Viktor Davidovski 8–9 [17]
  Comtoyou Team Audi Sport 64   Éric Cayrolle 1 [18]
  BRC Hyundai N Racing Team Hyundai Elantra N TCR 88   Nicky Catsburg 8–9 [19]
Icon Class
T Eligible for WTCR Trophy

Summary

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Mid-season changes

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  • Cyan Racing withdrew from the Race of Italy, citing tire safety concerns.[20] Cyan Racing would later suspend their WTCR program with immediate effect for the same reason in August 2022 and not see out the season.[21]

Calendar

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The preliminary race calendar was published by the championship management on 26 November 2021.[22] On 26 February 2022, WTCR Race of Russia was suspended due to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.[23] On 19 March 2022, the calendar was updated again with the cancellation of the Czech and Russian rounds.[24][2] A further update was ratified on 14 April 2022, with the addition of two rounds at Vallelunga and Anneau du Rhin.[25] Another update was made on 29 June 2022 by cancelling Asian rounds due to the logistical challenges and quarantine restrictions in Asia:[26] An update was provided on 1 September 2022 by adding races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia to host the final rounds of the championship.[3]

Round Race Race Name Circuit Date Supporting
1 1 WTCR Race of France   Circuit de Pau-Ville 7–8 May Pau Motors Festival
Euroformula Open (Pau Grand Prix)
ETCR Championship
French F4 Championship
2
2 3 WTCR Goodyear Race of Germany   Nürburgring Nordschleife 26–28 May Nürburgring 24 Hours
4
3 5 WTCR Goodyear Race of Hungary   Hungaroring 11–12 June ETCR Championship
6
4 7 WTCR DHL Race of Spain   Ciudad del Motor de Aragón 25–26 June
8
5 9 WTCR Race of Portugal   Circuito Internacional de Vila Real 2–3 July
10
6 11 WTCR Race of Italy   Autodromo Vallelunga Piero Taruffi 23–24 July ETCR Championship
12
7 13 WTCR Race of Alsace Grand Est   Anneau du Rhin 6–7 August
14
8 15 WTCR Bapco Race of Bahrain   Bahrain International Circuit 10–12 November FIA World Endurance Championship
16
9 17 WTCR Goodyear Race of Saudi Arabia   Jeddah Corniche Circuit 25–27 November
18

The following rounds were cancelled due to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and logistical challenges in Asia:

Race Name Circuit Date
WTCR Liqui Moly Race of Czech Republic   Autodrom Most 9–10 April
WTCR Race of Russia   Sochi Autodrom 6–7 August
WTCR Race of Korea   Inje Speedium 8–9 October
WTCR Race of China   Ningbo International Circuit 5–6 November
WTCR Race of Macau   Guia Circuit 18–20 November
Source:[24][2][26]

Compensation weight handicaps

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Compensation weight handicaps were given to the participating cars based on their best qualifying lap times in the previous two events, with 40 kg being the maximum penalty.[27] Hyundai customer team BRC Racing Team was in particular noted to have gamed the system by intentionally performing worse than possible in qualifying to avoid being penalised.[28][29]

Car Pau[30] Nürburgring[30] Hungaroring[31] Aragón[32] Vila Real[33] Vallelunga[34] Anneau du Rhin[35] Bahrain[36] Jeddah[37]
Audi RS 3 LMS TCR (2021) 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg +10 kg +40 kg +40 kg 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg
Cupra León Competición TCR 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg
Honda Civic Type R TCR (FK8) 0 kg +40 kg +40 kg +40 kg +40 kg +20 kg +40 kg +40 kg +40 kg
Hyundai Elantra N TCR 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg +10 kg
Lynk & Co 03 TCR 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg +10 kg +20 kg +40 kg +40 kg – –

Results

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Race Race Name Pole Position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team WTCR Trophy winner Report
1   Race of France   Néstor Girolami   Robert Huff   Néstor Girolami   ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport   Mehdi Bennani Report
2   Mikel Azcona   Mikel Azcona   BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse   Robert Huff
3   Race of Germany   Mehdi Bennani Race Cancelled Report
4
5   Race of Hungary   Mikel Azcona   Mikel Azcona   Mikel Azcona   BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse   Robert Huff Report
6   Robert Huff   Santiago Urrutia   Cyan Performance Lynk & Co   Robert Huff
7   Race of Spain   Gilles Magnus   Gilles Magnus   Gilles Magnus   Comtoyou Team Audi Sport   Robert Huff Report
8   Robert Huff   Mikel Azcona   BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse   Robert Huff
9   Race of Portugal   Santiago Urrutia   Santiago Urrutia   Santiago Urrutia   Cyan Performance Lynk & Co   Robert Huff Report
10   Robert Huff   Robert Huff   Zengő Motorsport   Robert Huff
11   Race of Italy   Néstor Girolami   Nathanaël Berthon   Néstor Girolami   ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport   Tom Coronel Report
12   Gilles Magnus   Gilles Magnus   Audi Sport Team Comtoyou   Robert Huff
13   Race of Alsace Grand Est   Néstor Girolami   Esteban Guerrieri   Nathanaël Berthon   Comtoyou Team Audi Sport   Robert Huff Report
14   Mikel Azcona   Robert Huff   Zengő Motorsport   Robert Huff
15   Race of Bahrain   Mikel Azcona   Norbert Michelisz   Mikel Azcona   BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse   Tom Coronel Report
16   Norbert Michelisz   Norbert Michelisz   BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse   Tom Coronel
17   Race of Saudi Arabia   Nathanaël Berthon   Nathanaël Berthon   Nathanaël Berthon   Comtoyou Team Audi Sport   Tom Coronel Report
18   Gilles Magnus   Gilles Magnus   Comtoyou Team Audi Sport   Robert Huff

Championship standings

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Scoring system
Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   9th   10th   11th   12th   13th   14th   15th 
Qualifying
(Q1-Q3 Best Lap Top 5) 		10 8 6 4 2 —
Race 1 30 23 19 16 14 12 10 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Race 2 25 20 16 13 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Scoring system for WTCR Trophy
Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   FL 
Qualifying 1 —
Race 10 8 5 3 1 1

Drivers' championship

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Pos. Driver FRA
  		GER
  		HUN
  		ESP
  		PRT
  		ITA
  		AGE
  		BHR
  		SAU
  		 Pts. 
1   Mikel Azcona 64 1 C5 C 1 8 3 1 8 3 22 3 33 3 11 4 62 3 337
2   Néstor Girolami 11 7 C C 74 3 12 12 3 9 11 5 21 7 43 9 10 8 254
3   Nathanaël Berthon 163 4 C C 33 12 42 8 10 Ret 9 2 12 8 32 5 11 Ret 240
4   Norbert Michelisz 9 Ret C C 12 4 6 Ret 4 5 44 4 4 4 24 1 24 4 222
5   Gilles Magnus 85 Ret C2 C 41 7 11 14 Ret 13 3 1 75 5 Ret Ret 53 1 210
6   Robert Huff 12 8 C C 6 2 23 2 6 1 8 6 5 1 9 5 210
7   Esteban Guerrieri 22 5 C C 95 10 11 11 Ret Ret 73 10 104 10 8 2 11 11 149
8   Santiago Urrutia 7 2 C3 C 8 1 8 3 1 10 DNS DNS 137
9   Yann Ehrlacher 4 15 C4 C 22 6 54 5 2 8 DNS DNS 133
10   Tom Coronel 11 12 C C 15 13 Ret Ret 13 12 6 7 6 11 6 6 35 6 115
11   Mehdi Bennani 10 Ret C1 C 13 Ret 10 9 7 6 10 9 11 2 7 8 112
12   Ma Qinghua 5 3 C C 5 5 13 6 5 7 DNS DNS 97
13   Attila Tassi 17 13 C C 14 14 Ret 13 9 2 55 8 Ret 9 96 Ret 14 Ret 83
14   Yvan Muller 3 6 C C 10 9 75 7 14 4 DNS DNS 78
15   Tiago Monteiro 15 10 C C 16 15 14 15 11 Ret 11 11 9 6 12 12 13 9 70
16   Dániel Nagy 13 11 C C 17 Ret Ret 4 12 Ret 8 12 11 10 Ret 7 62
17   Thed Björk Ret 9 C C 11 11 9 10 Ret 11 DNS DNS 35
18   Franco Girolami[N 1] 14 7 4 Ret 16
19   Bence Boldizs 13 11 12
Wildcard entries ineligible for points
—   Viktor Davidovski 10 13 8 2 —
—   Nicky Catsburg 55 3 7 Ret —
—   Ahmed BinKhanen 12 10 —
—   Éric Cayrolle 14 14 —
Pos. Driver FRA
  		GER
  		HUN
  		ESP
  		PRT
  		ITA
  		AGE
  		BHR
  		SAU
  		 Pts. 
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver Second place
Bronze Third place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Retired (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

Teams' championship

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Pos. Team No. FRA
  		GER
  		HUN
  		ESP
  		PRT
  		ITA
  		AGE
  		BHR
  		SAU
  		Pts.
1   BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse 5 9 Ret C C 12 4 5 Ret 4 5 44 4 4 4 24 1 24 4 559
96 64 1 C5 C 1 8 3 1 8 3 22 3 33 3 11 4 62 3
2   ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport 29 11 7 C C 74 3 12 12 3 9 11 5 21 7 43 9 10 8 403
86 22 5 C C 95 10 11 11 Ret Ret 73 10 104 10 8 2 11 11
3   Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport 17 163 4 C C 33 12 42 8 10 Ret 9 2 12 8 32 5 11 Ret 355
33 11 12 C C 15 13 Ret Ret 13 12 6 7 6 11 6 6 35 6
4   Comtoyou Team Audi Sport 16 85 Ret C2 C 41 7 11 14 Ret 13 3 1 75 5 Ret Ret 53 1 338
25 10 Ret C1 C 13 Ret 10 9 7 6 10 9 11 2 7 8
72 4 Ret
5   Zengő Motorsport 66 13 11 284
79 12 8 C C 6 2 23 2 6 1 8 6 5 1 9 5
99 13 11 C C 17 Ret Ret 4 12 Ret 8 12 11 10 Ret 7
6   Cyan Performance Lynk & Co 11[N 2] Ret 9 C C 11 11 9 10 Ret 11 DNS DNS 211
12[N 2] 7 2 C3 C 8 1 8 3 1 10 DNS DNS
55 5 3 C C 5 5 13 6 5 6 DNS DNS
7   Cyan Racing Lynk & Co 68 4 15 C4 C 22 6 64 5 2 8 DNS DNS 211
100 3 6 C C 10 9 75 7 14 4 DNS DNS
8   Liqui Moly Team Engstler 9 17 13 C C 14 14 Ret 13 9 2 55 8 Ret 9 96 Ret 14 Ret 153
18 15 10 C C 16 15 14 15 11 Ret 11 11 9 6 12 12 13 9
Ineligible for team points
—   Comtoyou Racing 24 12 10 —
72 14 7
110 10 13 8 2
—   Comtoyou Team Audi Sport 64 14 14 —
—   BRC Hyundai N Racing Team 88 55 3 7 Ret —
Pos. Team No. FRA
  		GER
  		HUN
  		ESP
  		PRT
  		ITA
  		AGE
  		BHR
  		SAU
  		 Pts. 
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver Second place
Bronze Third place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Retired (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

WTCR Trophy

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Eligible for drivers racing without manufacturer support.[38]

Pos. Driver FRA
  		GER
  		HUN
  		ESP
  		PRT
  		ITA
  		AGE
  		BHR
  		SAU
  		Pts.
1   Robert Huff 121 8 C C 61 2 21 2 6 1 8 6 6 1 9 5 139
2   Tom Coronel 11 12 C C 15 13 Ret Ret 13 12 6 7 71 11 6 6 31 6 108
3   Mehdi Bennani 10 Ret C1 C 13 Ret 10 9 71 6 101 9 11 2 71 8 91
4   Dániel Nagy 13 11 C C 17 Ret Ret 4 12 Ret 8 12 11 10 Ret 7 51
5   Franco Girolami 4 Ret 8
6   Bence Boldizs 13 11 7
Pos. Driver FRA
  		GER
  		HUN
  		ESP
  		PRT
  		ITA
  		AGE
  		BHR
  		SAU
  		Pts.

Notes

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  1. ^ Franco Girolami was ineligible to score points at the Race of Bahrain as he was a wildcard entry.
  2. ^ a b Santiago Urrutia was ineligible to score points for the teams' championship in round 1, whereas Thed Björk was ineligible in rounds 2–6.

References

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  1. ^ "Bigger and Even Better: 2022 WTCR Calendar Revealed". FIA WTCR. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "Pau Gets Set To Host WTCR Season Opener". fiawtcr.com. 19 March 2022. Archived from the original on 25 March 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  3. ^ a b c Rodgers, Richard (2022-09-01). "WTCR all set for a Middle Eastern adventure as 2022 calendar is completed". FIA WTCR | World Touring Car Cup. Archived from the original on 2022-09-28. Retrieved 2022-09-01.
  4. ^ "Lynk & Co Cyan Racing announces immediate suspension of WTCR programme". TouringCarTimes. 2022-08-04. Retrieved 2022-12-02.
  5. ^ "Lotti on the health of TCR worldwide, and his new World Tour". TouringCarTimes. 2023-05-19. Retrieved 2023-06-19.
  6. ^ "Discovery Sports Events developing new format and looking to the future". FIA WTCR. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  7. ^ "WSC unveils innovative platform for Touring Car racing". TCR World Ranking. WCS Ltd. 14 October 2022. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
  8. ^ a b c "Mikel Azcona joins Norbert Michelisz at BRC Hyundai". TouringCarTimes. 7 February 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  9. ^ a b c d e "Honda reveals unchanged driver line-up as Team Engstler makes Civic switch". TouringCarTimes. 15 January 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  10. ^ a b c d "Yann Ehrlacher, Yvan Muller complete Lynk & Co line-up". TouringCarTimes.com. 8 March 2022. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
  11. ^ a b "Ma Qing Hua makes WTCR return with Lynk & Co". TouringCarTimes.com. 22 February 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  12. ^ a b c d e "Comtoyou Racing confirms four Audis for Bennani, Coronel, Berthon and Magnus". TouringCarTimes. 22 April 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  13. ^ "Mikel Azcona and Bebu Girolami battle for the last-ever WTCR crown at Jeddah". TouringCarTimes. 25 November 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  14. ^ "Rob Huff calls time on 2022 WTCR programme". TouringCarTimes. 8 November 2022. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  15. ^ a b c "Zengő Motorsport confirms Rob Huff and Dániel Nagy for 2022". TouringCarTimes. 29 April 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  16. ^ "Saudi wildcard Ahmed Bin Khanen joins Jeddah grid". TouringCarTimes. 18 November 2022. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  17. ^ a b "Comtoyou Racing adds Franco Girolami and Viktor Davidovski to final rounds". TouringCarTimes. 3 November 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  18. ^ "Éric Cayrolle makes comeback as wild card entry for Pau-Ville". TouringCarTimes. 29 April 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  19. ^ "Nicky Catsburg joins BRC for final two WTCR events". TouringCarTimes. 18 October 2022. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  20. ^ Smith, Damien (2022-07-24). "Cyan Racing pulls entries from WTCR Vallelunga race over tyre safety fears". Autosport. Retrieved 2022-11-11.
  21. ^ Smith, Damien (2022-08-04). "Lynk & Co suspends WTCR programme over tyre safety fears". Autosport. Retrieved 2022-11-11.
  22. ^ "WTCR targets Asian return as 2022 schedule revealed". TouringCarTimes. 26 November 2021. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  23. ^ "Statement on WTCR Race of Russia". fiawtcr.com. 26 February 2022. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  24. ^ a b "FIA Announced World Motorsport Council Decisions". fia.com. 19 March 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  25. ^ Rodgers, Richard (2022-04-14). "WTCR races set for Italy and Alsace following calendar updates". FIA WTCR | World Touring Car Cup. Archived from the original on 2022-12-02. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
  26. ^ a b "WTCR Calendar Update Following FIA World Motor Sport Council Decision". FIA WTCR | World Touring Car Cup. 29 June 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  27. ^ "Points and compensation weight systems amended for 2022 season". TouringCarTimes. 2021-12-15. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  28. ^ "Néstor Girolami blasts compensation weight strategy by rival teams". TouringCarTimes. 2022-07-03. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  29. ^ "Yvan Muller: "Hyundai are only fast when they want"". TouringCarTimes. 2022-06-26. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  30. ^ a b "Honda alone in receiving compensation weight for the Nürburgring". TouringCarTimes. 2022-05-20. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  31. ^ "Honda remains on top of compensation weights for Hungaroring". TouringCarTimes. 2022-06-08. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  32. ^ "Honda remain heaviest as Audi and Lynk & Co gain weight". TouringCarTimes. 2022-06-22. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  33. ^ "Audi joins Honda at maximum compensation weight for Portugal". TouringCarTimes. 2022-06-29. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  34. ^ "Lynk & Co hits maximum compensation weight for Vallelunga". TouringCarTimes. 2022-07-20. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  35. ^ "Honda hits maximum weight as 20kg is taken off all cars". TouringCarTimes. 2022-08-05. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  36. ^ "Honda remain on maximum weight for penultimate WTCR round". TouringCarTimes. 2022-11-07. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  37. ^ "Hyundai will gain weight for WTCR finale". TouringCarTimes. 2022-11-25. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  38. ^ Rodgers, Richard. "WTCR TROPHY". FIA WTCR | World Touring Car Cup. Archived from the original on 2020-09-26. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
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