WTCC, 2006, Rumours, news, dates etc

[E46]

or where should go. I read today on italiaracing.net that provisional schedule for 2006 could have 12 races, new tracks could be Helsinki (urban), Curitiba (according Spanish press) and one in Japan (Fuji?). The two American races would be Curitiba and Puebla and both in two straight weekends. WTCC in 1987 had 11 races (Europe and Australia, +1 in Japan), now surely 12. Comments? other possible countries to go? It isn´t an easy question thinking there are few S2000s out of Europe...

[Hazard]

Well, Jonathan Palmer's trying to get Brands Hatch a race. I assume that's by poaching the Silverstone round though (which would be great!). {me steal news from TTT}

Expanding on World would be great...but big circuits don't suit S2000 cars too well. Maybe Adelaide if we had Australia would be good?

[Monkey Head]

which 2005 venue will be pull away from calander?

[Les]

Spa by the sounds of it will be dropped

[E46]

Originally Posted by Hazard

Well, Jonathan Palmer's trying to get Brands Hatch a race. I assume that's by poaching the Silverstone round though (which would be great!). {me steal news from TTT}

Expanding on World would be great...but big circuits don't suit S2000 cars too well. Maybe Adelaide if we had Australia would be good?

Brands Hatch would be more suitable than Silverstone for WTCC, it could be a good thing.

Originally Posted by Monkey Head

which 2005 venue will be pull away from calander?

Perhaps Imola or Monza (two races in Italy again?), Spa would be a surpirse for me (sounds? i thought that it happens just in Zandvoort ).

[rustyfan]

Originally Posted by Les

Spa by the sounds of it will be dropped

Pulling one of the best tracks off the schedule would be lunacy.

[touringlegend]

Spa is a very very long track, and let's face it the cars aren't the fastest about. Now that they won't run with the GT cars do we really need large open tracks any more ?

It doesn't really warrant the World name at the moment but more non European tracks would help.

[SALEEN S7R]

Ditching Spa would be a very bad decision IMO. Yes the FIA GT championship and FIA WTCC are going their seperate ways generally but I woudnt be suprised to see the 2 series racing alongside one another on the odd ocassion. Remember, theres 100,000+ people at Spa for the Spa 24hrs, that ensures a big crowd both for the FIA GT championship and the FIA WTCC. IMO ditching the Spa 24hrs weekend woudnt be good business sense.

[Mike_Wooshy]

how about doing an endurance touring car event ??? like the old days ???

[rustyfan]

Originally Posted by touringlegend

Spa is a very very long track, and let's face it the cars aren't the fastest about.

Uhm - so what? The racing was exciting and unpredictable, and the track itself is a rare gem in itself these days, with it's flowing high-speed sections, massive elevation changes and surrounding scenery.

Removing it from the schedule would be downright criminal.

[FIRE]

The Ring would be great.

[alfasud]

Originally Posted by FIRE

The Ring would be great.

a single lap of the ring would be as long as most of the WTCC races.

[E46]

Originally Posted by Mike_Wooshy

how about doing an endurance touring car event ??? like the old days ???

Are people interested in endurance races for touring cars?

I would prefer longer races (40 min. for example) all meetings but not an endurance one...

[rustyfan]

Originally Posted by FIRE

The Ring would be great.

Indeed

But since that will never, ever happen, we'll have to stick to Spa which, in quite a few ways, is the closest a FIA sanctioned event will ever come to anything like the 'Ring.

[kmchow]

It would be cool if they travelled to the west coast of the US, say Portland. They would make an awesome support series/race for the F1 Grand Prix. Imagine the marketing linkup that Honda/BMW could do with having their F1/S2000 cars together.