Touring car racing


Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition with heavily modified road-going cars. It is popular in Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Britain, Germany, Sweden and Norway. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing which is popular in the United States.
While not as fast as Formula One, the similarity of the cars both to each other and to fans' own vehicles makes for entertaining, well-supported racing. The lesser use of aerodynamics means following cars have a much easier time passing than in F1, and the more substantial bodies of the cars makes the subtle bumping and nudging for overtaking much more acceptable as part of racing.
As well as short "sprint" races, many touring car series include one or more endurance races, which last anything from 3 to 24 hours and are a test of reliability and pit crews as much as car, driver speed, and consistency.

Characteristics of a touring car

While rules vary from country to country, most series require that the competitors start with a standard car body, but virtually every other component may be allowed to be heavily modified for racing, including engines, suspension, brakes, wheels and tires. Aerodynamic aids are sometimes added to the front and rear of the cars. Regulations are usually designed to limit costs by banning some of the more exotic technologies available and keep the racing close.
Touring cars share some similarity with American stock car racing governed by NASCAR. However, touring cars are, at least notionally, derived from production cars while today's NASCAR vehicles are based on a common design.

Differences between touring cars and sports cars

For the casual observer, there can be a great deal of confusion when it comes to classifying closed-wheel racing cars as 'touring cars' or 'sports cars'. In truth, there is often very little technical difference between the two classifications, and nomenclature is often a matter of tradition.
Touring cars are usually based upon family cars, while GT racing cars are based upon powerful sports cars, such as Ferraris or Lamborghinis. Underneath the bodywork, a touring car is often more closely related to its road-going origins, using many original components and mountings, while some top-flight GT cars are purpose-built tube-frame racing chassis underneath a cosmetic body shell. More recently, there has been an increasing push to make GT cars closer to the road cars with the GT3 set of regulations. Many touring car series, such as the BTCC and the now-defunct JTCC distinguish themselves from sports car racing by featuring front-wheel drive, four-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive cars with smaller engines. Most sports car championships only allow rear-wheel drive cars.
While touring cars generally have a lower technical level than sports cars, there are some exceptions. The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters is considered to be one of the most technologically advanced racing series in the world, with cars that, underneath their body shells, are more purebred racing machines than most FIA-GT vehicles.
When Sports car racing was created in the inter-war period of the 20th century however, sports cars fulfilled the role Touring Cars do today, as the production car variant of racing compared to the specialised vehicles competing in Grand Prix racing. Over time Touring Cars has drifted from its role as racing cars based on modern road cars with categories like NASCAR and DTM having little to no connection to road cars. This in turn has led to the rise of Production car racing to fulfil the role once performed by Touring Cars and Sports Cars before that.

Series of competition

World Touring Car Cup

Worldwide
Modern World Touring Car Championship started in 2005, evolving from the reborn European Touring Car Championship. The series merged with the TCR International Series and became the World Touring Car Cup starting from 2018.
Running at major international racing facilities, this series is supported by BMW, SEAT and Chevrolet. The latter fields a works team, whereas the other two only sell racing kits to be installed on their cars, providing technical support to their customers. In 2011 Volvo also entered the championship, fielding a one-car team as an evaluation for a possible heavier commitment to the series. The World Touring Car Championship features 1.6-litre cars built to Super 2000 regulations based on FIA Group N.
Following the trend of recent FIA rules, cost control is a major theme in the technical regulation.
In 2011 the rules concerning the engine capacity have changed, switching from 2000 cc to 1600 cc turbo engines. Cars equipped with the old 2000 cc engines are still eligible in the championship. Many technologies that have featured in production cars are not allowed, for example: variable valve timing, variable intake geometry, ABS brakes and traction control.

British Touring Car Championship

United Kingdom
The British Touring Car Championship currently competes at nine circuits in the UK with cars built to Next Generation Touring Car specification, with ballast being used to equalise performance. From 2011, cars that ran to the BTCC's own Next Generation Touring Car specification were eligible to compete in a phased move away from Super 2000 regulations. Cars are 2.0-litre saloons, station wagons and hatchbacks with over and can be front or rear-wheel drive. During the 2016 season manufacturer team entries came from BMW, Subaru, MG and Honda. Since BTCC budgets have been kept relatively low, there is a strong independent and privateer presence in the championship. Manufacturers represented by privateers include Vauxhall, Ford, Toyota, Volkswagen, Chevrolet and Audi.
Prior to 2001 the BTCC was contested by cars built to 2.0-litre supertouring regulations and had in its heyday up to nine different manufacturers. Joachim Winkelhock stated on several occasions that it was the best touring car championship in the world, and many champions of that era now race in the World Touring Car Championship. Between 2002 and 2006 the BTCC ran its own Touring class with Super Production/Super 2000 cars making up the numbers; the Touring class was phased out with the intention of a pure Super 2000 series. The introduction of the Next Generation Touring Car specification, from 2011, started a phased transition from Super 2000 cars in an effort to cut costs and improve the sport.

DTM

Germany/Europe
The DTM series, the initials standing for Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft until 1996, then following a hiatus, revived as Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters in 2000, features advanced purpose built 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-powered space frame machines, covered with largely carbon fibre bodyshapes resembling the manufacturers' road machine. In order to lower costs, the engine power is limited to, and transmissions, brakes and tyres are standard parts for all. Also, dimensions and aerodynamics are equalised. The approx. DTM cars corner incredibly quickly and wear spectacular bodykits incorporating huge wheel arches and diffusers, plus a drag-reduction system designed to encourage overtaking.
More than 20 works-backed entries of the Opel Astra, Audi TT and Mercedes-Benz CLK contested the revived 2000 DTM series but a serious issue developed for the series when Opel pulled out ahead of the 2006 season. BMW would eventually replace Opel as the series' third manufacturer for 2012, while Mercedes-AMG withdrew at the end of 2018. Mercedes-AMG was replaced by a privately-funded Aston Martin Vantage program that did not last beyond the 2019 season.
For the 2019 season, major technical changes occurred. Turbochargers were reintroduced in accordance with new regulations impacting engines and power outputs, as all cars are now required to have 2.0-litre 4-cylinder single turbo engines, replacing the 4.0L V8s that had been used since the series' revival in 2000. Engine power was increased from ~500 hp to 610 hp, with an extra 30 hp available as part of a push-to-pass system available to drivers for the first time. Downforce levels were also reduced to encourage overtaking and increase top speeds to 300 km/h in order to improve the racing spectacle.
In 2019, DTM formed a partnership with the Japanese touring car series Super GT which runs a near identical set of rules and regulations in its GT500 class. Honda, Toyota - represented via Lexus, and Nissan each entered a wildcard entry for the final race of the 2019 season at the Hockenheimring. The cars entered were a Nissan GT-R, a Lexus LC 500 and a Honda NSX. For the weekend of the 22nd-24 November, DTM sent three BMW M4s and four Audi RS5s to take part in a non-championship race at Fuji Speedway along with the full GT500 grid, labelled the 'SUPER GT x DTM Dream Race'. Aston Martin withdrew from the event as they intended to focus on developing the Vantage package for 2020, however this never eventuated as the program was ended.
Audi announced in late April of 2020 that they would be discontinuing their involvement in the series after the end of the 2020 season, following the same path Mercedes-Benz did after the end of the 2018 season; focusing on electric motorsport, most notably Formula E. This will leave BMW as the sole manufacturer left, putting the series' future in serious jeopardy.

Nürburgring VLN Endurance racing Series

Germany
Since 1997, and nowadays still on the over long famous old Nürburgring and other circuit worldwide, in average over 150 touring cars compete in the VLN series of ten typically four-hour-long races. Cars range from old road legal compacts to Porsche 996 and even modified DTM cars. Most entrants of the 24 Hours Nürburgring collect experience here.

Scandinavian Touring Car Championship

Sweden/Denmark
Between 1996 and 2010 the Swedish Touring Car Championship contained various races in Sweden and a few in Norway. The most successful car makes were Volvo, BMW, Audi and Nissan. In 2010 the championship merged with the Danish Touringcar Championship to form the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship. The 2010 champion was Robert Dahlgren, because he had achieved the best results from selected races in the Danish and Swedish championships. Rickard Rydell and Johan Kristoffersson won the championship in 2011 and 2012, in a Chevrolet and a VW, respectively. In 2013 the series merged with the TTA – Racing Elite League to form the 2013 STCC – Racing Elite League season, starring 17 drivers for Volvo, BMW, Saab, Citroën, Dacia and Honda.

Supercars Championship

Australia and New Zealand
Formerly the Australian Touring Car Championship, Supercars are recognised internationally as the 'fastest touring cars in the world' racing at speeds that can reach nearly 300 km/h. They are also the most expensive touring cars in the world with each car costing in excess of $1 million which includes bespoke $250,000 5.0-litre V8 engines producing approximately 635 hp. The current formula was devised in 1993 and branded as 'V8 Supercars' in 1997 and 'Supercars' in 2016. The series features grids of approximately 25 cars, although selected events feature wildcard entries which add to the grid. The cars are currently based on the Ford Mustang GT and Holden Commodore, with a third yet-to-be-announced body style planned to appear for the 2021 season. The minimum weight for a Supercar including driver is. The race cars themselves are derived from production body panels and space frame chassis. Both body styles feature an aerodynamic package incorporating large front and rear wings designed to ensure equal aerodynamic performance between the two vehicle types.
The series incorporates the world famous Bathurst 1000 race as a championship round. Because of the longer distance, regulations require two drivers per car for this race. This also applies to The Bend 500 & the Gold Coast 600. These events make up the Pirtek Enduro Cup, which is a championship-within-a-championship where the driver combination with most points collected over these three endurance races wins a trophy.
In Australia, Supercars enjoys a strong support base that is still driven in large part by the tribal Ford versus Holden battle. Over 200,000 total spectators attend the four-day Adelaide 500 and Bathurst 1000 events, and the 2019 Bathurst 1000 drew a maximum of 2.36 million television viewers across the country. This compares favourably with other major sporting events such as the AFL Grand Final with 2.2 million TV viewers in 2019. Supercars is also popular in New Zealand, with a regular round held in the country being the only international event on the series calendar. Attempts at further international expansion were made in China, Malaysia, the Middle East, and the United States during the 2000s and 2010s, none of which have survived.
As the series has grown, major international motorsport organisations have become involved such as Team Penske, Andretti Autosport, United Autosports and Triple Eight Race Engineering.
Both Ford and Holden financially and technically supported their favoured teams and took an active role in promotion of the series from its beginning, but began to wind back and ultimately withdraw their financial commitments approximately in line with the decline in sales and eventual discontinuation of the Falcon in 2016 and Commodore in 2020. Ford withdrew all financial support after 2015, and Holden cut most of its support back to only the Red Bull Holden Racing Team from 2017. Holden will be shut down as a brand during 2020, therefore ending its factory involvement in Supercars after the 2020 season, while Ford returned for the 2019 season with the Mustang project.
Other manufacturers have also appeared in the series, including Nissan with Kelly Racing, Volvo with Garry Rogers Motorsport, and Mercedes-Benz in a non-factory-supported program from Erebus Motorsport. With Kelly Racing's switch to Ford Mustangs for 2020 after a year of running its Nissan Altimas privately, Supercars reverted to a two-make Ford vs. Holden competition.

Other series

Americas

race in 2013
Different sets of regulations do apply: