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

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

• JAS Motorsport and Honda Racing retained their 2021 drivers – Attila Tassi, Tiago Monteiro, Néstor Girolami and Esteban Guerrieri – for the 2022 season but on 15 January it was announced that Engstler Motorsport will switch from Hyundai to Honda.^[9]
• Mikel Azcona will switch from Zengő Motorsport Services KFT to BRC Hyundai N Lukoil Squadra Corse to replace Gabriele Tarquini.^[8]
• 2020 TCR China Touring Car Championship winner Ma Qing Hua returned to the series after having last raced in 2019 for Team Mulsanne, driving a car for Cyan Performance Lynk & Co.^[11]
• 2020 TCR Europe Touring Car Series winner Mehdi Bennani returned to the series and Comtoyou Racing after having last raced in 2019 for SLR VW Motorsport to replace last season's runner-up Frédéric Vervisch.^[12]
• Dániel Nagy returned to the series and Zengő Motorsport after having last taken part in the series in 2018, to replace Bence Boldizs.^[15]

Mid-season changes

• 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

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

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

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

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

Pos. Driver FRA GER HUN ESP PRT ITA AGE BHR SAU  Pts.  1 Mikel Azcona 6^4 1 C^5 C 1 8 3 1 8 3 2^2 3 3^3 3 1^1 4 6^2 3 337 2 Néstor Girolami 1^1 7 C C 7^4 3 12 12 3 9 1^1 5 2^1 7 4^3 9 10 8 254 3 Nathanaël Berthon 16^3 4 C C 3^3 12 4^2 8 10 Ret 9 2 1^2 8 3^2 5 1^1 Ret 240 4 Norbert Michelisz 9 Ret C C 12 4 6 Ret 4 5 4^4 4 4 4 2^4 1 2^4 4 222 5 Gilles Magnus 8^5 Ret C^2 C 4^1 7 1^1 14 Ret 13 3 1 7^5 5 Ret Ret 5^3 1 210 6 Robert Huff 12 8 C C 6 2 2^3 2 6 1 8 6 5 1 9 5 210 7 Esteban Guerrieri 2^2 5 C C 9^5 10 11 11 Ret Ret 7^3 10 10^4 10 8 2 11 11 149 8 Santiago Urrutia 7 2 C^3 C 8 1 8 3 1 10 DNS DNS 137 9 Yann Ehrlacher 4 15 C^4 C 2^2 6 5^4 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 3^5 6 115 11 Mehdi Bennani 10 Ret C^1 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 5^5 8 Ret 9 9^6 Ret 14 Ret 83 14 Yvan Muller 3 6 C C 10 9 7^5 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 5^5 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

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 4^4 4 4 4 2^4 1 2^4 4 559 96 6^4 1 C^5 C 1 8 3 1 8 3 2^2 3 3^3 3 1^1 4 6^2 3 2 ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport 29 1^1 7 C C 7^4 3 12 12 3 9 1^1 5 2^1 7 4^3 9 10 8 403 86 2^2 5 C C 9^5 10 11 11 Ret Ret 7^3 10 10^4 10 8 2 11 11 3 Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport 17 16^3 4 C C 3^3 12 4^2 8 10 Ret 9 2 1^2 8 3^2 5 1^1 Ret 355 33 11 12 C C 15 13 Ret Ret 13 12 6 7 6 11 6 6 3^5 6 4 Comtoyou Team Audi Sport 16 8^5 Ret C^2 C 4^1 7 1^1 14 Ret 13 3 1 7^5 5 Ret Ret 5^3 1 338 25 10 Ret C^1 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 2^3 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 C^3 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 C^4 C 2^2 6 6^4 5 2 8 DNS DNS 211 100 3 6 C C 10 9 7^5 7 14 4 DNS DNS 8 Liqui Moly Team Engstler 9 17 13 C C 14 14 Ret 13 9 2 5^5 8 Ret 9 9^6 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 5^5 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

Eligible for drivers racing without manufacturer support.^[38]

Pos.	Driver	FRA		GER		HUN		ESP		PRT		ITA		AGE		BHR		SAU		Pts.
1	Robert Huff	12^1	8	C	C	6^1	2	2^1	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	7^1	11	6	6	3^1	6	108
3	Mehdi Bennani	10	Ret	C^1	C	13	Ret	10	9	7^1	6	10^1	9	11	2	7^1	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

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

References

1. "Bigger and Even Better: 2022 WTCR Calendar Revealed". FIA WTCR. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
2. "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. 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. "Mikel Azcona joins Norbert Michelisz at BRC Hyundai". TouringCarTimes. 7 February 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
9. "Honda reveals unchanged driver line-up as Team Engstler makes Civic switch". TouringCarTimes. 15 January 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
10. "Yann Ehrlacher, Yvan Muller complete Lynk & Co line-up". TouringCarTimes.com. 8 March 2022. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
11. "Ma Qing Hua makes WTCR return with Lynk & Co". TouringCarTimes.com. 22 February 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
12. "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. "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. "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. "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. "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. "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.

External links

• Official website