What about an Endurance race between the Porsche and Roadster
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.
Contents
Characteristics of a touring car[edit]
A
Chevrolet Cruze 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 (for instance, many series insist on a "control tire" that all competitors must use) and keep the racing close (sometimes by
ballast weight where winning a race requires the winner's car to be heavier for subsequent races).
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.
[1]
Differences between touring cars and sports cars[edit]
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' (also known as GT 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 (such as
hatchbacks,
sedans or
estates), while GT racing cars are based upon powerful
sports cars, such as
Ferraris or
Lamborghinis (and are thus usually
coupés). 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 (DTM) 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[edit]
World Touring Car Cup[edit]
2018 WTCR Race of Hungary
Worldwide
Main articles:
World Touring Car Cup and
World Touring Car Championship
Modern World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) 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 (WTCR) 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[edit]
2016 BTCC Brands Hatch
United Kingdom
Main article:
British Touring Car Championship
The British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) 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 350 bhp (260 kW) 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,[
citation needed] and many champions of that era now race in the
World Touring Car Championship (WTCC). 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 (only privateers are eligible to run old Touring cars) 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[edit]
DTM at
Hockenheim in
2012
Germany/Europe
Main articles:
Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft and
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters
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 (although the roof and roof pillars do originate from the production car).
[2] In order to lower costs, the engine power is limited to 610 hp (450 kW),
[3] and transmissions, brakes and tyres (Hankook) are standard parts for all. Also, dimensions and aerodynamics are equalised. The approx. 985 kg (2,172 lb) (without driver) DTM cars corner incredibly quickly and wear spectacular bodykits incorporating huge wheel arches and diffusers, plus a drag-reduction system (DRS) designed to encourage overtaking.
More than 20 works-backed entries of
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.
[4] BMW would eventually replace Opel as the series' third manufacturer for 2012,
[5] while
Mercedes-AMG withdrew at the end of 2018.
[6] Mercedes-AMG was replaced by a privately-funded
Aston Martin Vantage program that did not last beyond the 2019 season.
[7]
The series survived these hurdles, with
Audi RS5 and
BMW M4 Turbo models contesting the present series.
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 30hp available as part of a
push-to-pass system available to drivers for the first time.
[8][9] Downforce levels were also reduced to encourage overtaking and increase top speeds to 300km/h (186mph) in order to improve the racing spectacle.
[10]
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 (R35), a
Lexus LC 500 and a
Honda NSX (second generation). For the weekend of the 22nd-24th of 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.
[11]
Nürburgring VLN Endurance racing Series[edit]
Germany
Main article:
Veranstaltergemeinschaft Langstreckenpokal Nürburgring
Since 1997, and nowadays still on the over 20 kilometres (12 mi) long famous old
Nürburgring and other circuit worldwide, in average over 150 touring cars compete in the
VLN series of ten typically 4 hour long races. Cars range from old 100 hp (75 kW) road legal compacts to 500 hp (370 kW)
Porsche 996 and even modified
DTM cars (1,250 kg (2,760 lb)). Most entrants of the 24 Hours Nürburgring collect experience here.
Scandinavian Touring Car Championship[edit]
Alx Danielsson driving a
Citroën in the STCC – Racing Elite League
Sweden/Denmark
Main article:
Scandinavian Touring Car Championship
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[edit]
2011 V8 Supercar Championship at Queensland Raceway
Australia and
New Zealand
Main article:
Supercars Championship
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 300km/h. They are also the most expensive touring cars in the world with each car costing in excess of $1 million (AUD) which includes bespoke $250,000 (AUD) 5.0-litre
V8 engines producing approximately 635hp (473kW).
[12] The current formula was devised in 1993 (based on Group A regulations) 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 (ZB), with a third yet-to-be-announced body style planned to appear for the
2021 season.
[13] The minimum weight for a Supercar including driver is 1,395 kg (3,075 lb).
[14] 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.
[15]
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.
[16] 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.
[17][18] This compares favourably with other major sporting events such as the
AFL Grand Final with 2.2 million TV viewers in
2019.
[19] Supercars is also popular in
New Zealand,
[20] with a regular round held in the country (currently held at the
Hampton Downs circuit) 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.
[21][22][23][24][25][26]
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
[27] and
Commodore in 2020 (the two models that exclusively competed in the V8 formula from 1993 to 2012).
[28][29][30] Ford withdrew all financial support after
2015,
[31] and Holden cut most of its support back to only the
Red Bull Holden Racing Team from 2017.
[32] Holden will be shut down as a brand during 2020, therefore ending its factory involvement in Supercars after the
2020 season,
[33] while Ford returned for the
2019 season with the Mustang project.
[34]
Other manufacturers have also appeared in the series, including
Nissan with
Kelly Racing,
[35] Volvo with
Garry Rogers Motorsport[36], and
Mercedes-Benz in a non-factory-supported program from
Erebus Motorsport.
[37]. With Kelly Racing's switch to Ford Mustangs for 2020
[38] after a year of running its Nissan Altimas privately,
[39] Supercars reverted to a two-make Ford vs. Holden competition.
Other series[edit]
Americas[edit]
- TC 2000 Championship (Argentina) (1979-still)
- SCCA Pro Racing World Challenge- during the SpeedVision/Speed Channel era, the "touring cars" in this series were lower performance vehicles modified to almost the same extent as the American Le Mans Series and Rolex Sports Car Series caliber grand touring cars. After the touring cars became a BMW-Mazda-Acura affair, the series was reformatted to include a new touring car class mostly sharing Grand Am's Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge vehicles. Shortly later, a lesser "B-Spec" group was added.