The WTCR has been subject to several setbacks that have forced Discovery Sports Events as promoter of the series to substantially change the championship schedule for 2022. The Russian invasion of Ukraine wiped out any international event to be held on Russian soil, leaving WTCR without its race in Sochi. Shortly after, the series also lost its event at Autodromo de Most. Two tests that have already been replaced with races in Italy and Alsace (France) which will take place in the summer.
Discovery Sports Events has chosen Vallelunga (Italy) and Anneau du Rhin (France) to close its 2022 calendar, as long as the contest can carry out the Asian tour that is planned for the last third of the season. Something that remains to be seen, since the health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is still a reality. In any case, the WTCR will close the first two thirds of its calendar with these appointments after passing through Vila Real.
After competing on the streets of the Portuguese city between July 2-3, WTCR will head to Vallelunga to compete for the second time in Italy after doing it last year in Adria. The event will take place between July 23 and 24 and will be the fifth scoring event on the calendar. It will be the first time that the track located near Rome is part of the World Touring Car Cup calendar, but not for an FIA ETCR with which it will share the weekend and which was already on the track last year.
Overcome the Italian event, the WTCR caravan will head to Anneau du Rhin, a small track located in the east of France, in what will be the second event in the country after Pau’s appointment. Alsace is a region of great importance for the automotive industry and with very deep roots in motorsport thanks to figures such as Sébastien Loeb. This event will take place between August 6 and 7 and will be the first major event with an international profile to be held on the welcoming Alsatian track..
Jean-Baptiste Lawdirector of the WTCR, said: “When we announced that we were not going to compete in the Czech Republic and Russia, we committed ourselves to having two events that would replace them as quickly as possible. We are very happy to have located two tracks that host these tests. Vallelunga and Anneau du Rhin are two new tracks for the WTCR and that offers a new perspective. Vallelunga is a landmark for touring cars, while Anneau du Rhin is in the region where Yann Ehrlacher and Yvan Muller were born.”
Updated 2022 WTCR season schedule
Photos: FIA WTCR