103 replies to this topic

[Disgrace]

Quite frankly, I'll be astounded if this thread reaches a second page by the end of the season, however, we may just have a less boring year.

Arena International Motorsport closes its doors.

Is the series in it's death throes?

[Ross Stonefeld]

They lost Arena and gained Honda? Doesn't seem like a big deal? And the rumours about Renault and Citroen...

[Myrvold]

And Subaru no less. There has been some speak of Petter Solberg returning to Subaru, for a WTCC run in 2014. Solberg vs Loeb... again!

[ArnageWRC]

I no longer get the point of the WTCC....

A very poor FiA World Championship.

[HaydenFan]

ArnageWRC, on Jan 8 2013, 09:56, said:

I no longer get the point of the WTCC....

A very poor FiA World Championship.

Never understood the point of the it in the first place. It never worked in the long term before in any form of a touring car world championship.

[Ross Stonefeld]

It seems to be working long term this time? It' going to ebb and flow with the state of the economy but it's hardly dead.

[HaydenFan]

Ross Stonefeld, on Jan 8 2013, 10:36, said:

It seems to be working long term this time? It' going to ebb and flow with the state of the economy but it's hardly dead.

When you have the defending champion's saying, “Following a strategic review of our motorsport and marketing programs we have decided to leave the FIA World Touring Car Championship at the end of the 2012 season to focus our Chevrolet brand activities in other areas", you cannot tell me that the series is in dire trouble? The defending champions, who destroyed the competition in it's last season, and would have likely done the same, exiting for really no real explanation.

[Ross Stonefeld]

That's not uncommon for manufacturers though. They're just as likely to leave when they win *everything* as when they're sucking. And not having three works Chevys might actually be good for the racing.

[Myrvold]

HaydenFan, on Jan 8 2013, 16:50, said:

When you have the defending champion's saying, “Following a strategic review of our motorsport and marketing programs we have decided to leave the FIA World Touring Car Championship at the end of the 2012 season to focus our Chevrolet brand activities in other areas", you cannot tell me that the series is in dire trouble? The defending champions, who destroyed the competition in it's last season, and would have likely done the same, exiting for really no real explanation.

Just like Lancia did in WRC then, right before WRC hit it's mid 90's peak.

Lancia left because it didn't create any headlines when they won. Because, well. Lancia was supposed to win.

[Myrvold]

Le double post

Edited by Myrvold, 08 January 2013 - 18:21.

[Rob G]

I saw an article saying that they're considering introducing a push-to-pass system. They've had that for years - they push a guy off the road and then pass him.

[SonnyViceR]

HaydenFan, on Jan 8 2013, 17:50, said:

When you have the defending champion's saying, “Following a strategic review of our motorsport and marketing programs we have decided to leave the FIA World Touring Car Championship at the end of the 2012 season to focus our Chevrolet brand activities in other areas", you cannot tell me that the series is in dire trouble? The defending champions, who destroyed the competition in it's last season, and would have likely done the same, exiting for really no real explanation.

You know, factory SEAT left WTCC at the peak of it's utter domination... and BMW wasn't exactly struggling against Chevy either when they decided to drift off

Factories come and go, nothing new.

[Buxbaum]

The Grid looks empty : http://en.wikipedia....pionship_season


But at least more Germans.

[DanardiF1]

Buxbaum, on Jan 8 2013, 21:25, said:

The Grid looks empty : http://en.wikipedia....pionship_season


But at least more Germans.

And two full-time Ladas!!

[Tarzaan]

Buxbaum, on Jan 8 2013, 22:25, said:

The Grid looks empty : http://en.wikipedia....pionship_season


But at least more Germans.

Team Zengő also will enter with 1 or maybe 2 cars.

[Risil]

Rob G, on Jan 8 2013, 18:24, said:

I saw an article saying that they're considering introducing a push-to-pass system. They've had that for years - they push a guy off the road and then pass him.

[Zava]

Tarzaan, on Jan 9 2013, 12:45, said:

Team Zengő also will enter with 1 or maybe 2 cars.

yup

[BRG]

The opening rounds at a very wet Monza yesterday saw some rather good racing and driving, with little of the usual dodgems antics and some quite skilful work dealing with standing water and difficult visibility. In the end Muller in the ex-works Chevy RML team was still dominant, but 2012 champ Huff showed pace in his new SEAT despite starting from the back.

For once, WTCC looked like world class motorsport compared to the spoilt brats over in Sepang....

[Jimisgod]

Cars are so small and under powered it's embarrassing. Don't see what you get from it you can't from a GT series.

Touring cars are meant to be big or medium sized cars that have close banging racing, like the supertourer BTCC of the 1990s.

[BRG]

Jimisgod, on Mar 25 2013, 19:11, said:

Cars are so small and under powered it's embarrassing. Don't see what you get from it you can't from a GT series.

Touring cars are meant to be big or medium sized cars that have close banging racing, like the supertourer BTCC of the 1990s.

By that criteria, the only single seater racing should be F1, the only sports cars should be old school Can-Am Porsche 917 Turbos and so on.

Where does it say that touring cars have to be big or medium sized? They weren't when the Mini Cooper S was humiliating the Ford Galaxies back in the day. These are cars that we can all envisage owning (unlike pretty much every other form of racing). That's the point. As for underpowered, is 300+bhp such a small output? I reckon the current WTCC cars would outrun the Sierra RS500s of yore by an embarrassing degree.

[Tarzaan]

BRG, on Mar 25 2013, 19:34, said:

The opening rounds at a very wet Monza yesterday saw some rather good racing and driving, with little of the usual dodgems antics and some quite skilful work dealing with standing water and difficult visibility. In the end Muller in the ex-works Chevy RML team was still dominant, but 2012 champ Huff showed pace in his new SEAT despite starting from the back.

For once, WTCC looked like world class motorsport compared to the spoilt brats over in Sepang....

Yes, but it was a wet race in a good track.

[Peat]

Chevy still seems to be the weapon of choice. I do wonder how they will cope during the season without manufacturer support however.

Hard to tell anything from Monza. You needed boats, not cars.

[billm99uk]

Muller wins twice in a Chevrolet. Welcome to the new WTCC... same as the old WTCC.

[billm99uk]

DanardiF1, on Jan 9 2013, 06:42, said:

And two full-time Ladas!!

Oh no there aren't!

[BRG]

billm99uk, on Mar 25 2013, 22:53, said:

Muller wins twice in a Chevrolet. Welcome to the new WTCC... same as the old WTCC.

Well, it is the old works team (RML) continuing with their #1 driver, so they should be at the front at the start of the new season. The point this year is that Muller has Tarquini and Huff in different cars that may well be able to challenge him as well as other coming up. So not like 2012 with a three car train of works Chevys clearing off into the distance.

[CrossF1]

Dudukalo could lose his seat because of the crash: http://www.autosport...t.php/id/106380

[maverick69]

Jimisgod, on Mar 25 2013, 19:11, said:

Cars are so small and under powered it's embarrassing. Don't see what you get from it you can't from a GT series.

Touring cars are meant to be big or medium sized cars that have close banging racing, like the supertourer BTCC of the 1990s.

Agreed.

Why not have Merc E Class vs BMW 5 Series vs Audi A6 vs Jag XF vs Lexus GS etc......

It's just as relevant to the market........ And it would be very unique......

[BRG]

maverick69, on Mar 26 2013, 22:07, said:

........ And it would be very unique......

Unique in the sense of 'exactly the same as DTM', you mean? Makes a great series, I think there was a DTM race last year when someone actually managed to overtake.

[maverick69]

BRG, on Mar 26 2013, 22:10, said:

Unique in the sense of 'exactly the same as DTM', you mean? Makes a great series, I think there was a DTM race last year when someone actually managed to overtake.

Erm. No.

Those cars are a "size" up from those used in the DTM...... which are silhouettes anyways.

[chdphd]

maverick69, on Mar 26 2013, 22:07, said:

Agreed.

Why not have Merc E Class vs BMW 5 Series vs Audi A6 vs Jag XF vs Lexus GS etc......

It's just as relevant to the market........ And it would be very unique......

How does Superstars International Series suit you?

http://www.superstar...n-Homepage.aspx

There are interesting cars, drivers and circuits in it.

I did what I usually did watching the WTCC races on Sunday. Fell asleep.

Edited by chdphd, 26 March 2013 - 22:16.

[maverick69]

chdphd, on Mar 26 2013, 22:15, said:

How does Superstars International Series suit you?

http://www.superstar...n-Homepage.aspx

There are interesting cars, drivers and circuits in it.

I did what I usually did watching the WTCC races on Sunday. Fell asleep.

Great series and cool cars

Basically exactly what I was talking about.

Make it the WTCC!

Edited by maverick69, 26 March 2013 - 22:23.

[Deluxx]

I was watching monza r01 and r02... and i haven't been eatching much wtcc as of late, but i saw a laurie rig up front of the grid. Whats up with that? Is it just product placement or does it serve a purpose? Would be funny if they used it for a saftey car ^_^

[MrAerodynamicist]

Considering it gets to award a world championship at the end of the year, it is a thoughly underwhelming championship. The cars, the drivers, the events. None of it exudes the prestige worth something bearing the FIA World Championship title.

To have your claim to the thone taken seriously, you need to project that air that says "I'm a big f'ing deal" and gets people (especially the media) to pay attention. F1 knows how to do that. NASCAR knows how to do that. V8 Supercars knows how to do that. MotoGP knows how to do that. WRC used to know how to do that. WTCC doesn't come close.

[benzine]

the only decent thing on track was the maserati , a beauty , those chevy cruizes looks ugly

[billm99uk]

You think they'd give them more laps at Marrakech. They always have crashes and I always takes an age to clear them so you know threw ill be a safety car or two...

[Fondmetal]

billm99uk, on Apr 7 2013, 17:08, said:

You think they'd give them more laps at Marrakech. They always have crashes and I always takes an age to clear them so you know threw ill be a safety car or two...

It should be WHHC "World Hot Hatch Championship" most of the cars are all FWD and have hatches.. Not what I call touring cars! they even have a LADA

[billm99uk]

Yup. Race 2 mostly run behind the safety car again. I'd hate to have bought a ticket to this one. You got, what, 20 laps at racing speed all day? Hope the support races were good!

And, oh lord, those SEAT uprights! And I thought F1 cars were delicate...

[Yhamm]

Marrakech is always an horrible event. They probably have the slowest stewards and it's an urban track. Each year, its 30% of the race behind a safety car

WTCC is fine how it is now... if you put more expansive cars, you will have even less constructors and there are officially only Honda and Lada this year
But I heard they will try to increase the power of the cars for 2014 or 2015

[tomisumi]

Yhamm, on Apr 7 2013, 23:12, said:

Marrakech is always an horrible event. They probably have the slowest stewards and it's an urban track. Each year, its 30% of the race behind a safety car

WTCC is fine how it is now... if you put more expansive cars, you will have even less constructors and there are officially only Honda and Lada this year
But I heard they will try to increase the power of the cars for 2014 or 2015

There were stewards from Le Mans, it would be even worse with domestic stewards...

[billm99uk]

Yhamm, on Apr 7 2013, 22:12, said:

Marrakech is always an horrible event. They probably have the slowest stewards and it's an urban track. Each year, its 30% of the race behind a safety car

Yeah but they know that now. Why don't they just add a few more laps? The fuel tanks can't be that small can they?

[billm99uk]

Honda looking good for today. Could this be the start of Chevy-like domination on their part?

Edited by billm99uk, 28 April 2013 - 12:38.

[V8 Fireworks]

Zava, on Jan 10 2013, 10:57, said:

Red badge nice.

I see they are preparing folks for the release of the "fastest front wheel drive car around the Nurburgring".

Possibly speed will not be enough to make up for mediocre refinement compared to the Golf GTI, and ungainly styling that many Honda enthusiasts hate. :/

[billm99uk]

Tom Coronel! Now there's a guy who really enjoys winning!

[BRG]

Disgrace, on Jan 8 2013, 07:04, said:

Quite frankly, I'll be astounded if this thread reaches a second page by the end of the season, however, we may just have a less boring year.

End of April in fact. Who'da thunk?

Disgrace, on Jan 8 2013, 07:04, said:

Is the series in it's death throes?

It looks healthier than for several years, thankfully. Even though it takes us to such bastions of road racing as Morocco, Slovakia and Russia.

Edited by BRG, 02 May 2013 - 14:15.

[Red17]

BRG, on May 2 2013, 15:14, said:

End of April in fact. Who'da thunk?


It looks healthier than for several years, thankfully. Even though it takes us to such bastions of road racing as Morocco, Slovakia and Russia.

I usually think of Marroco as a WTCC version of Nascar, except Nascar has 100+ laps to make up the cautions. I guess every series need a weird venue every year.

Personally i think the series is on «positive transition». The chevys are now in reach and rumours persist that Citroen and Renault (engine- may be coming.

The trick is not allowing another Chevy stampede, but keep the brands happy.

What I don't get is why they are moving the Fords to america, feels like they are just dusting them off to run them locally next season. Not that Ford cares anyway, but I personally felt the cars looked good.

[Yhamm]

Damn, that was a really hard hit for Tarquini :/
it's difficult to see what really happened

[artista]

It looks Franz Engstler is also aching a bit after the accident. The more I see him racing, the more convinced I am the guy is jinxed. He seems to have an extremely high propensity to be crashed into by other drivers or safety cars.

Edited by artista, 05 May 2013 - 13:05.

[DS27]

It hasn't been great for years but I just can't get into WTCC this year at all. Anyone else feel the same?

I'm going to knock it off my things to watch for now and stick to BTCC to get my tin-top fix - especially as they have cleaned up their act slightly.

[Myrvold]

I just can't seem to think if Honda would've gone for a younger number 1 driver, and muller getting a slower car. The champ would've been absolutely top notch. Now it's good races, but not any close champ. fight.

[Richard T]

The new SEAT Cup Racer. Potentially the base of a new WTCC concept!
If this is a sign of what the WTCC cars of 2014 regulations will look like, bring it on!

http://www.touringca...r-next-weekend/