World Touring Cars | Drive

World Touring Cars | Drive The FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) is an international Touring Car championship sanctioned by the FIA. It has had several different incarnations over the years, including a single season in 1987, a World Touring Car Cup held between 1993 and 1995 and most recently a world championship that has run since 2005. Citroën Total driver José María López from Argentina is the 2015 WTCC reigning champion. The first World Touring Car Championship, which was open to Group A Touring Cars, was held in 1987 concurrent to the long-running European Touring Car Championship (ETCC). Additional rounds were held outside Europe at Bathurst and Calder Park Raceway in Australia (using a combined circuit of the road course and the then newly constructed NASCAR speedway), Wellington in New Zealand and Mount Fuji in Japan. The Championship was well-supported, but embroiled in controversy. The championship was provisionally awarded to West German Eggenberger Motorsport Ford Sierra RS500 drivers Klaus Ludwig and Klaus Niedzwiedz. It was not until the following year that results were confirmed and Italian Schnitzer Motorsport driver Roberto Ravaglia in a BMW M3 was declared the champion. The Entrants Championship was won by the Eggenberger Texaco Ford No 7 entry. The WTCC lasted only one year and was a victim of its own success — the FIA (and Bernie Ecclestone) feared it would take money away from Formula One and stopped sanctioning the Championship.[citation needed] A silhouette formula championship was announced by the FIA for 1988 which would have seen specialist racing chassis carrying bodywork resembling production roadcars powered by the about to be outlawed Formula One 1.5 litre turbo regulations, but manufacturers did not support the concept, only one car, based on an Alfa Romeo 164 was built before it was abandoned. Subscribe to our channel for more Vintage Car videos https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF9qsbSwx9pkpazppanEHLA?sub_confirmation=1

Added 6 May 2026