This has got to be the most exciting news for fans of touring car racing in Europe: the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) will race at the Nürburgring Nordschleife in 2015, opening the program of the 24 Hour Race.
The event will mark the beginning of a three-year deal between WTCC promoter Eurosport Events and 24h-race organiser ADAC Nordrhein, as well as the return of an FIA World Championship event to the terrific “Green Hell”, 32 years after the 1983 ADAC 1000Km race.
The Nürburgring FIA WTCC race will also mark the series’ return to Germany after a three-year break. From 2005 to 2011, the WTCC Race of Germany was hosted by Motorsport Arena Oschersleben.
Of course, racing on the Nürburgring implies some changes in FIA WTCC’s event format, which is usually made of two 60 km (37 miles) races. That’s because organizers plan to race on the combined Nürburgring GP circuit and the legendary Nordschleife, just like the Nürburgring’s 24 Hour race, with a lap totaling 25.378 kilometers (15.7 miles).
“To tackle this monument of car racing history, we asked FIA to revise the sporting regulations for that event. The idea is to hold one single 120km race, with one pit stop. The details of this particular format will be worked out between FIA, Eurosport Events and teams before the next FIA Touring Car Commission,” said François Ribeiro, Eurosport Events COO.
The FIA WTCC race at the Nürburgring will certainly become the highlight of the season and with factory teams involved like Citroën, Honda, Lada and others, as well as drivers like Sebastien Loeb, Yvan Muller and Gabriele Tarquini, the show should be too good to miss.
By Dan Mihalascu
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