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]
Richard Bailey
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