» WTCC: FIA confirms 2014 calendar

The calendar for the 2014 FIA World Touring Car Championship season has been signed off by the World Motor Sport Council overnight.

The season will see a twelve-round, 24 race schedule kicking off on the streets of Marrakech, Morocco, in April. The start of the season has been pushed back from its traditional March starting point to allow the field more time to develop the cars built to the series’ new Super 2000 ‘T1’ regulations.

Date	Event	Venue
06 APR	Race of Morocco*	Marrakech street circuit
20 APR	Race of France*	Circuit Paul Ricard
04 MAY	Race of Hungary	Hungaroring
11 MAY	Race of Slovakia	Automotodróm Slovakia Ring
25 MAY	Race of Austria	Salzburgring, Salzburg
08 JUN	Race of Russia*	Moscow Raceway, Moscow
22 JUN	Race of Belgium**	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
03 AUG	Race of Argentina*	Autódromo Termas de Río Hondo
14 SEP	Race of USA*	Sonoma Raceway
12 OCT	Race of China*	Shanghai International Circuit
26 OCT	Race of Japan	Suzuka Grand Prix Circuit
16 NOV	Guia Race of Macau*	Guia Street Circuit

* Subject to the National Sporting Authority’s confirmation
** Subject to signing the agreement with the event’s promoter

The second round of the championship will see the field cross the Mediterranean to the south of France’s Paul Ricard circuit, which will mark the first time since 2009 that the championship has had a race on French soil.

The eastern European rounds in Hungary, Slovakia and Austria follow ahead of the series’ second visit to Russia’s Moscow Raceway, which made its maiden appearance on the calendar last year.

The final European round of the championship takes place at Spa-Francorchamps at the end of June. It will mark the first round in Belgium since Zolder’s stand-in appearance on the 2011 calendar, and the first time that the field has visited the classic Ardennes circuit since 2005.

The final five rounds are the flyaway races, kicking off with two rounds in the Americas – Termas de Río Hondo in Argentina and Sonoma Raceway in the United States.

The Far East stages the final three rounds, with Japan, China and Macau closing out the season.

The French and Belgian rounds are the new additions to the calendar, coming at the expense of the Italian and Portuguese rounds.

The series will not race in Italy for the first time in the championship’s history

For the first time in the championship’s history, there will be no race in Italy, while the round at Portugal (the Porto street circuit) is expected to return in 2015, as its contract stipulates it stages a WTCC every two years.

The other major news piece from the WMSC’s announcement is that the Japanese round at Suzuka will be staged on the full Grand Prix circuit layout, as opposed to the shorter East Circuit which has been used in 2012 and 2013.

Final confirmation of some events – as indicated below – is subject to the event’s promoter signing a contract with the WTCC commercial rights holder, or with the local motorsport authority green-lighting the event.