» WTCC: UK round dropped from 2012 calendar

The FIA World Motor Sport Council has unveiled a revised championship calendar for the 2012 World Touring Car Championship season, which included the sensational news that there will be no round in the United Kingdom.

After being dropped at the last minute from the 2011 calendar, a race at Argentina is back on the roster, with the event kick-starting the sequence of flyaway races that will see the championship head to its usual host countries in Brazil, Japan, China and Macau.

The shelved round in Morocco also makes a return to the calendar in April, while the new races at the Salburgring (Austria) and Sonoma (USA) are also confirmed.

For the first time in the championship’s history, there will be no races in the championship’s traditional heartlands of the UK, France and Germany, with the round at Oschersleben also confirmed as being dropped from the calendar.

The Portuguese round has thankfully been relocated to Estoril after this year’s utterly dull return to the streets of Porto.

The round at China has been moved from Tianma to the Shanghai International Circuit.

The final confirmed calendar is as follows:

11 MAR	Race of Italy	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Milan
01 APR	Race of Spain	Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Valencia*
15 APR	Race of Morocco	Streets of Marrakech
06 MAY	Race of Hungary	Hungaroring, Budapest
20 MAY	Race of Austria	Salzburgring, Salzburg
03 JUN	Race of Portugal	Autódromo do Estoril, Estoril
08 JUL	Race of Argentina	TBA
22 JUL	Race of Brazil	Autódromo Internacional de Curitiba, Curitiba
23 SEP	Race of United States	Infineon Raceway, Sonoma
21 OCT	Race of Japan	Suzuka East Circuit, Suzuka
04 NOV	Race of China	Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai
18 NOV	Guia Race of Macau	Guia Circuit, Macau

* Subject to the homologation of the circuit

The FIA has also confirmed that it would consider allowing cars that conform to Super 2000 regulations (being 2.0-litre normally-aspirated and turbodiesel cars) on a race-by-race basis only.

[Images via FIA WTCC Media]