Suvarna Garge (Editor)

2017 World Touring Car Championship

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Dates
  
7 Apr 2017 – 1 Dec 2017

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The 2017 World Touring Car Championship will be the fourteenth season of the FIA World Touring Car Championship, and the thirteenth since the series was revived in 2005. For this season, there are a few rules changes and a new category, the WTCC-2.

Contents

Team changes

  • 2016 was the last season in WTCC as factory team for Citroën and Lada.
  • Münnich Motorsport switched to a Citroën C-Elysée WTCC for the 2017 season after racing with a Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 for the last three seasons.
  • Volvo will expand its campaign to three full-time entries from two full-time entries. All the three cars will be entered by the main factory.

    • Driver changes

  • Four time champion Yvan Muller retired after 2016.
  • Three time champion José María López left WTCC for Formula E.
  • Robert Huff left the Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team to join Münnich Motorsport.
  • John Filippi left Campos Racing to join Sébastien Loeb Racing.
  • Ryo Michigami joined Honda Racing Team JAS for a full-season campaign after making his World Touring Car Championship debut at his home race in Japan during the 2016 season.
  • Aurélien Panis entered the series, driving for Zengő Motorsport.
  • After competing in two rounds in 2015 and one round in 2016, Néstor Girolami will make his full-time World Touring Car Championship debut in 2017, racing for Polestar Cyan Racing.
  • Following the withdrawal of Lada, Nick Catsburg joined Polestar Cyan Racing.

    • Rules changes

    The 2017 season will see the introduction of WTCC-2, a class for cars conforming to the FIA's new TCN2 category. TCN2 cars will have turbocharged engines of up to two litres in capacity, sequential gearboxes and limited aerodynamic aids. WTCC-2 is intended to enable teams and drivers to compete in the WTCC with smaller budgets than would be required to race a TC1 car.

    Outside of the technical regulations, more points will be awarded for the winners of the Manufacturers Against the Clock (MAC3) team time trials (12 rather than 10), optional rallycross-style "joker laps" will be introduced, the second or "main race" on a race weekend will be increased in length to two laps longer than the opening races (with the exception of the Race of Germany at Nürburgring Nordschleife), the points scoring structure will be revised with more points awarded in the main race, and the length of race meetings will be reduced to two days, with testing on Fridays to be abolished and the Free Practice 1 and 2 sessions being increased from 30 to 45 minutes to compensate.

    Calendar

    The Monza and Macau circuits return to the WTCC, whereas France, Russia and Slovakia are dropped.

    References

    2017 World Touring Car Championship Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA