The FIA World Motor Sport Council approved the calendar for the 2014 FIA World Touring Car Championship.
Just like in the latest years, the series will be run on twelve events and twenty-four races.
For the first time the championship will kick off at Marrakech, while the closing meeting will be held at Macau for the tenth consecutive year.
The only new venue is Circuit Paul Ricard at Le Castellet, that will host the second event of the season. The last time the WTCC raced in France was at Pau in 2009. The championship will also return to Spa-Francorchamps, nine years after its only visit there in 2005.
Other changes compared to the previous seasons are the postponement of Sonoma by one week and the reversal of dates between Shanghai and Suzuka.

2014 WTCC –Calendar

6 April                  Marrakech (MAR) *
20 April                Le Castellet (FRA) *
4 May                  Hungaroring (HUN)
11 May                Slovakia Ring (SVK)
25 May                Salzburgring (AUT)
8 June                 Moscow Raceway (RUS) *
22 June               Spa-Francorchamps (BEL) **
3 August             Termas de Río Hondo (ARG) *
14 September     Sonoma (USA) *
12 October          Shanghai (CHN) *
26 October          Suzuka (JPN)
16 November      Macau (MAC) *

* subject to the ASN’s confirmation
** subject to the agreement with the promoter

YVAN MULLER CROWNED AT THE FIA GALA

Last night Yvan Muller was officially named 2013 FIA World Touring Car Drivers’ Champion during the traditional FIA prize giving gala in that took place at the Cité du Cinéma in Paris.
Muller collected his fourth Drivers’ trophy, while Gabriele Tarquini and James Nash received the awards for the second and third classified.
“Winning this title was a great satisfaction, because we were not even sure to be on the grid. It was already a victory to actually take part in the first event at Monza. I don’t know if it was more difficult than my previous titles; for sure it was difficult, but in a different way. It was difficult to find the sponsors and because we had a lower budget. But we were champions again, without the backing of a Manufacturer,” Muller commented.

HONDA RECEIVED MANUFACTURERS’ TROPHY

Also at the FIA gala in Paris, Honda received the WTCC Manufacturers’ Championship trophy. This was the first World Title for the Japanese Manufacturer since its Formula One triumphs between 1988 and 1991, when it was McLaren’s engine supplier.
Daisuke Horiuchi, Large Project Leader for WTCC development at Honda R & D, collected the trophy on the stage where the Honda Civic racing car was exhibited.
“This World Championship honour for Honda represents a great reward for everyone who worked so hard on this programme, whether at the tracks or at home in Japan, Italy and Hungary. Thanks to the continuous dedication and expertise of the people at JAS Motorsport, Zengö Motorsport, Mugen and Honda R&D, not to mention the talent of Gabriele Tarquini, Tiago Monteiro and Norbert Michelisz, we achieved four victories and sixteen other podium results; something that gives you a real sense of pride for a first year in WTCC,” said Horiuchi.

LOEB GOES BACK TO SCHOOL…

Even a nine-time world champion may find himself in the position of going back to school.
This is the case for Sébastien Loeb who faces his maiden season in WTCC after a glorious career in rally that resulted in nine WRC titles.
Discover how Loeb became a student in the class of a very special teacher: the four-time WTCC champion and his new team-mate at Citröen Racing, Yvan Muller.
Watch the clip at www.fiawtcc.com!

HONDA’S 2014 WTCC CIVIC TAKES SHAPE

Honda has released the first visual of its 2014 World Touring Car Championship challenger reflecting the all new technical regulations for the FIA WTCC which will come into force for next year.
The Honda Civic WTCC render shows the subtle style of the wheel arch extensions, larger diameter wheels, sleeker aero package and extended rear spoiler. Add all this to increased engine power and the 2014 Honda WTCC racer is clearly ambitious to retain Honda’s Manufacturers World Championship crown and enable the drivers to challenge for the World Champion title.
Two works cars will be run by JAS Motorsport for Gabriele Tarquini and Tiago Monteiro with two further cars to be entered by private outfits Zengö Motorsport and Proteam Racing for Hungary’s Norbert Michelisz and Moroccan Mehdi Bennani respectively.

RML TO BUILD NEW-SPEC CHEVROLET CRUZE

Multiple WTCC Champions RML officially confirmed they will design and build Chevrolet Cruze cars in compliance with the new 2014 FIA WTCC regulations.
RML’s expert team of engineers have been working hard on the new design of the Cruze since late summer, enabling work to commence in-house ready for the new season.
It has not yet been confirmed how many cars will be built, however customer teams will run the cars independently, with RML supplying an agreed level of support. Talks are ongoing with several interested parties for the purchase of the new car.
RML Chief Executive, Ray Mallock commented: “I am delighted that this project can now be officially announced and that RML will be supplying a number of customer cars to the 2014 WTCC grid. Strategically this opportunity is of great significance to RML as we reaffirm our commitment to the WTCC in the long-term and the introduction of the exciting new regulations.”
Mallock added: “The car is a completely new clean sheet design – it has to be to take advantage of the new regulations. The car represents a very significant step forward in performance over the existing Cruze, with significant aero gain, weight reduction and 20% more power increase. Of course with Citroën entering the championship next year along with Honda and Lada, we are in no doubt of the challenges that lay ahead to ensure that RML’s customers remain at the forefront of the series. The new car looks stunning and its performance will be way ahead of the current generation of cars.”

MALLOCK SAYS ALL ABOUT NEW PLANS

Following RML’s announcement that they will build a new Chevrolet Cruze in compliance with the new WTCC technical regulations, the company’s Chief Executive Ray Mallock agreed to answer a few questions.

Why RML decided to build a car for the new WTCC regulations?
“We firmly believe in the value of the WTCC as a platform for sponsors, drivers and manufacturers. WTCC should be the pinnacle of production car based competition and we want to be part of the series, supporting the transition to the exciting new regulations.”

How many cars have you planned to build and when will they be ready?
“We will build a minimum of four cars although this number could increase to six. The plan is to have first two cars ready around the 12^th March. In case we build more than six, we will not be able to supply the additional cars before Marrakech.”

Will customer teams own the engines outright or will they be a lease deal?
“As is the case with our current customer teams in WTCC (Nika Racing, bamboo-engineering, Tuenti Racing) we will continue to lease our in house engine at all times.”

Is there any involvement from GM in this project?
“Our friends at GM have worked closely with us on the homologation of the car. Beyond that, no, although we continue to have a close and strong relationship with GM.”

Will RML be running any cars in 2014?
“No, we have agreed with our customer teams that RML will not run in direct competition with them.”

Will RML be supporting any teams?
“If we are asked to provide additional support, we are happy to do so. This support will be available to any of the teams.”

Will RML return to WTCC as a race team?
“WTCC is very close to our heart and RML has a lot to offer to a manufacturer wanting to compete at the highest level in WTCC.”

If RML returns in 2015 representing a manufacturer, what happens to the customer cars?
“We are a high performance automotive engineering company, experienced in running multiple programmes. Our customer programmes are a vital part of our business model.  We have been supporting our customers to race and championship wins ever since we began in Touring cars in the early 1990s and that high level of commitment will continue.”

BENNANI UNVEILS HIS HONDA’S LIVERY

Mehdi Bennani unveiled the Morocco’s national colours livery that will be sported on his new Honda Civic during the 2014 FIA World Touring Car Championship.
The launch happened Tuesday, during a press conference at Casablanca that was attended by Morocco’s most important media.
Among the guests were William De  Braekeleer, Motorsport Manager Honda Motor Europe, Mehdi Tak Tak, General Director of Groupe Univers Motors, Honda importer for Morocco, and Valmiro Presenzini, Principal of Proteam Racing.
“I am very happy with this opportunity of racing a Honda; this makes me really optimistic about our future performance during the next season. My aim is to fight against the top WTCC drivers and I am also especially proud to defend the colours of Morocco colours in such an important international series,” said Bennani.

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Yvan Muller and Yannick Agnel are two of France’s sports glories. The former is a four-time World Touring Car champion, the latter a double Olympic Swimming champion.
Muller and Agnel met last week at the Circuit de Versailles-Satory, close to Vélizy where Citroën Racing is based.
Agnel, 21-years old from Nîmes, won the 200 Metres Freestyle and 4×100 Metres Freestyle Relay at the London Olympics in 2012 and at the 2013 Swimming World Championships in Barcelona. At Satory he enjoyed a high speed driving lesson from Muller.
“It is interesting to see that high level sportsmen have in common the capacity of analyzing and solving the problems. In Agnel’s case, he will only need two or three advices to learn,” Muller commented.
The question is: when Agnel will teach Muller a swimming lesson?
Watch the clip at www.fiawtcc.com!

SEASON REVIEW – WTCC FIELD UP BY 10.6%

In 2013 the WTCC field grew up by +10.6% compared to 2012; the average participation over the twelve events of the year was of 25.5 cars, with a record peak of 34 entered in the season’s finale at Macau.

Yvan Muller became the first driver capable of clinching the World Touring Car Championship crown four times.

The Frenchman had previously won three titles in 2008, 2010 and 2011, matching the record established by Andy Priaulx (2005, 2006 and 2007) who remains the only man to be crowned champion in three consecutive seasons.

45 drivers of 18 nationalities took part in at least one event during the 2013 season, at the wheel of models built by six manufacturers: BMW, Chevrolet, Honda, LADA, SEAT and Volvo. 
Ten out of 45 joined WTCC for the first time, increasing to 196 the total number of drivers who have made at least one appearance in the championship (since 2005).

Latvia’s Konstantins Calko was the first competitor ever from the Baltic States.

SPECIAL AWARDS FOR WTCC BICENTENARIES

Two drivers and two teams received special awards for taking part in their 200^th WTCC race.
Rob Huff was the first driver to reach this historical mark, in the second race at Shanghai, followed by Tom Coronel in the first race at Macau; their tallies are now 202 and 201 respectively.
Unfortunately Gabriele Tarquini failed to emulate them due to the engine failure that prevented him from taking the start in Macau’s Race 1; as a consequence the Italian is lying currently at level 199.
The teams awarded were RML and Proteam Racing.
They are actually the only outfits to have taken the start in all the 204 races held so far since the WTCC was launched in 2005.

BENNANI JOINS THE 100 RACE CLUB

Mehdi Bennani was the latest driver inducted in the WTCC 100 Race Club, reserved for those who have taken the start in one hundred World Championship races.
The men from Morocco reached the 100 mark in the second race at Suzuka and was officially inducted in the Club during the WTCC prize giving ceremony at Macau.
Bennani has become the sixteenth member of the WTCC 100 Race Club and the youngest of those who are still competing in the championship.

RACE VICTORIES – ELEVEN DIFFERENT WINNERS

Eleven different drivers shared race victories during the season. Only twice in the past did the WTCC provide a higher number of winners: twelve in 2005 and fourteen in 2008.
Yvan Muller took the lion’s share with seven wins, which increased his tally to an impressive 37. And even more impressive, he has claimed 24 out of the 37 in the three latest seasons…
With two victories apiece, former world champions Rob Huff and Gabriele Tarquini reached 25 and 19 successes respectively; this meant that Huff moved to a solo second position leaving Alain Menu behind, while Tarquini climbed to fourth ahead of Andy Priaulx. The Italian also remains the only driver who won at least one race in each of the series’ nine seasons.
However, the most significant fact was that five drivers joined the WTCC winners’ club, something that had never happened before.
James Nash, Tom Chilton, Michel Nykjær, Pepe Oriola and José María López collected nine race wins altogether, and two of them have even marked new milestones for WTCC: at Marrakech, Oriola became the youngest ever winner of an FIA World Championship race at the age of 18 years and nine months, while winning his home race in Argentina, López became the first driver victorious on his maiden appearance in the FIA touring cars.

QUALIFYING – MULLER WINS FROM THE POLE

Yvan Muller’s domination during the 2013 season was especially evident in qualifying. With eight pole positions out of twelve sessions, the quadruple World Champion established a new record for the series. The previous one was five pole positions set by Alain Menu in 2007 and matched by Gabriele Tarquini in 2009.

Starting from pole proved crucial in the chase for the crown, as Muller converted six of them into race victories. Only once, in Shanghai, he settled for second place when Tom Chilton passed him on the last lap. As for the pole position he claimed at the Salzburgring, it was only good for statistics, as Muller (like a lot of other drivers) was demoted by a penalty.

However, pole position was not the only factor that counted in Muller’s march towards another title. He scored 51 points in qualifying, that equate to 11.8% of his total tally of 431 points in the Drivers’ Championship. A big deal compared to Tarquini’s 21 points (8.7%) and James Nash’s 7 points (3.1%). The four remaining pole positions went to Tarquini (2), Norbert Michelisz and Chilton (one each).

Muller and Tarquini also top the WTCC all time statistics with 22 and 17 poles respectively.

GRID – REVERSED POLE PROVED CRUCIAL

In 2013 the rule that reverses the first ten drivers classified in the qualifying session on the grid for the second race proved as crucial as ever.

Five times out of twelve the driver who started from pole position on the reverse grid was able to win the race.

James Nash at Salzburgring and Porto, José María López at Termas de Río Hondo and Tiago Monteiro at Shanghai fully exploited their opportunities, while Tom Coronel did it at Slovakia Ring but could not convert into a victory his second reversed pole at Macau.

However, the driver who took the most starts from pole in the second race was Mehdi Bennani. The man from Morocco lined up in the top spot three times, at Moscow, Sonoma and Suzuka, but he only managed to achieve some leading laps (Russia and Japan) and two second places (USA and Japan).
Other drivers who started from pole on the reverse grid were Darryl O’Young (Monza), Fernando Monje (Marrakech) and Alex MacDowall (Budapest).

LAPS – MULLER LEADER OF THE PACK

The twenty-four races of the 2013 WTCC totaled to 311 laps, including 27 (8.7%) behind the safety car, which equated to a race distance of 1370.69 kilometres.

Once again the streets circuits proved the trickiest. The safety car was deployed at Porto during both races for a total of nine laps, while the second race in Macau was suspended twice by the red flag. The only other race disrupted by the red flag was the first at the Moscow Raceway.

Yvan Muller led for 85 laps, 27.3% of the total. Behind him Gabriele Tarquini was ahead of the field for 31 laps, Tom Coronel and Michel Nykjær for 28.

Looking at the all time statistics, Muller reinforced his leadership further, with 454 laps led; Alain Menu is still second with 297 despite he did not take part in this year’s championship, Rob Huff is third with 270.

During the 2013 season three drivers joined the lap-leading club: Pepe Oriola, Tom Chilton and José María López, all of them on their way to claim their first race victory.

POINTS – FIVE NEW SCORERS JOIN THE LIST

Scoring 431 points during the season, Yvan Muller nearly matched his own record of 433 that was established in 2011.

The French driver collected a grand total of 1968 points over his eight WTCC seasons; in the all-time table he his followed at distance by Rob Huff (1581) and Gabriele Tarquini (1363).

The only other driver who has topped the 1000-point mark is Alain Menu (1091).

Since the WTCC was launched in 2005, 69 drivers have scored points in the Drivers’ Championship.

Five of them made their entry into the scorers’ list during the 2013 season: Marc Basseng, José María López, Hugo Valente, Henry Ho and Célio Alves Dias.

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