The 2019 World Touring Car Cup was the second season of the

World Touring Car Cup The FIA World Touring Car Cup (abbreviated to WTCR, referring to the use of TCR regulations) was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It ...

and 15th overall of World Touring Cars promoted by Discovery Sports Events, which dates back to the 2005 World Touring Car Championship. The drivers' championship was won by

Norbert Michelisz Norbert Michelisz (born 8 August 1984) is a Hungarian auto racing driver and the 2019 winner of the World Touring Car Cup. Career Early career Michelisz was the 2006 Hungarian Suzuki Swift Cup champion, and in 2007 he won the Hungarian Ren ...

. The teams' championship was won by Cyan Racing Lynk & Co.

Teams and drivers

Team and driver changes

Cyan Racing Cyan Racing is the official motorsport partner to Geely Group Motorsport, formerly the Volvo factory auto racing team, and runs the FIA WTCR programme for Lynk & Co, based in Gothenburg, Sweden. The team’s current drivers are Thed Björk, Yv ...

made a return to the series with the all-new

Lynk & Co 03 TCR The Lynk & Co 03 TCR is a racing car developed by Cyan Racing, which has also developed Volvo, having won the WTCC in 2017 which, like Lynk & Co, is part of the Geely group. The race car is based on the eponymous Lynk & Co 03. History The dev ...

after missing the 2018 season.

Thed Björk Thed Björk (born 14 December 1980 in Vretstorp, Örebro) is a Swedish racing driver, and 2017 World Touring Car Champion. Other notable titles include the 2006 Swedish Touring Car Championship and the 2013, 2014 and 2015 Scandinavian Touring ...

was the first driver announced by the team. 2018 runner-up

Yvan Muller Yvan Muller (born 16 August 1969 in Altkirch, Haut-Rhin) is a French auto racing driver most noted for success in touring car racing. He is a four-time World Touring Car Champion, winning the title in 2008 with SEAT, in 2010 and 2011 with Chevro ...

was confirmed on 18 November 2018. Triple World Touring Car Champion winner

Andy Priaulx Andrew Graham Priaulx, MBE ( born 8 August 1974) is a British professional racing driver from Guernsey. In 2019 he raced for Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK in the FIA World Endurance Championship, and Cyan Racing Lynk & Co in the FIA World Tou ...

will be making his return to the series with the team after 9-year absence.

Yann Ehrlacher Yann Ehrlacher (born 4 July 1996) is a French auto racing driver who competes in the World Touring Car Cup for Cyan Racing, Cyan Performance Lynk & Co. He was the 2020 World Touring Car Cup winner and defended the title in 2021. He is the son o ...

was the final driver to be announced by the team on 19 December 2018. M Racing–YMR, which was supported by Cyan Racing, was disbanded with M Racing (responsible for running the cars on behalf of YMR) moving to the

TCR Europe Touring Car Series The TCR Europe Touring Car Series is an annual touring car racing event that is held at various locations across Europe. The series is run in accordance with the TCR Touring Car regulations with production-based cars that are front-wheel drive and ...

Nick Catsburg Nicky Catsburg (born 15 February 1988 in Amersfoort) is a Dutch professional racing driver, for BMW and General Motors works driver for Corvette Racing Corvette Racing is an American auto racing team established in 1999 by General Motors and ...

and

Augusto Farfus Augusto Farfus Jr. (born 3 September 1983) is a Brazilian professional racing driver, and BMW Motorsport works driver. He lives in Monaco. Early years Born in Curitiba, Farfus first tasted racing in minibike races and won the local championshi ...

drove for BRC Racing Team alongside series champion

Gabriele Tarquini Gabriele Tarquini (born 2 March 1962) is an Italian racing driver. He participated in 78 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on May 3, 1987. He scored a single championship point, and holds the record for the most failed attempts to qualify. He h ...

and

. To meet series regulations the team will be split into two entities of two cars with Tarquini and Michelisz racing under the BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse banner, while Farfus and Catsburg will race under the BRC Hyundai N Lukoil Racing Team banner. Farfus last raced in the series in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

while Catsburg last raced in the series in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

. 2018 FIA World Rallycross Championship and

2018 TCR Scandinavia Touring Car Championship The 2018 TCR Scandinavia Touring Car Championship was the eighth Scandinavian Touring Car Championship season. This season was the second season since the introduction of the TCR regulations and the last under the promotion of STCC AB, which dec ...

winner

Johan Kristoffersson Johan David Kristoffersson (born 6 December 1988) is a Swedish racecar driver. He is a five time World Champion having won the FIA World Rallycross Championship in 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022. In 2018 he won a record breaking 11 out of 12 eve ...

is set to make series debut driving Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR, prepared by

Sébastien Loeb Racing Sébastien Loeb Racing is a French racing team, founded by rally and racing driver Sébastien Loeb. It currently competes in the World Rallycross Championship, World Touring Car Cup, Porsche Carrera Cup France, and 208 Rally Cup. The team used ...

joining

Robert Huff Robert Peter "Rob" Huff (born 25 December 1979) is a British professional racing driver. He currently competes in the World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) driving for Zengő Motorsport. He was the 2012 World Touring Car Championship champion and the ...

and

Mehdi Bennani Mehdi Bennani ( ar, مهدي بناني, born 25 August 1983) is a Moroccan racing driver who currently competes in the TCR Europe with Sébastien Loeb Racing. He was TCR Europe Champion in 2020 with the Belgian team Comtoyou Racing. He became ...

Benjamin Leuchter Benjamin Leuchter (born 22 November 1987) is a German racing driver currently competing in the World Touring Car Cup. Having previously competed in the ADAC TCR Germany Touring Car Championship, German Formula Three Championship and Formula BMW ...

was announced as the fourth driver for the team on 30 January 2018.

Néstor Girolami Néstor Adrián Girolami (born May 22, 1989 in Cordoba Province), also known by the nickname "Bebu", is an Argentine racing driver. His brother Franco is also racing driver. Career He began competing in karts in 1993. He remained in this dis ...

made his series comeback joining ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport alongside

Esteban Guerrieri Esteban Guerrieri (born 19 January 1985 in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine racing driver. He was the most successful driver in the WTCR series in terms of wins. Career Formula racing After graduating from karts, Guerrieri competed in various F ...

, replacing Yann Ehrlacher. The team also scaled down to two cars as the series' rules do not allow teams to run more than two cars.

Timo Scheider Timo Scheider (born 10 November 1978 in Lahnstein) is a German racing driver who competes in the FIA World Rallycross Championship for Münnich Motorsport. He won the DTM title in 2008 and 2009. Career Karting Like most other drivers, Scheider ...

, who drove for the team during the second half of the 2018 season, left the series, but will keep his association with the team in the

FIA World Rallycross Championship The FIA World Rallycross Championship (official abbreviation is World RX) is a rallycross series organised by the FIA in conjunction with series promoter Rallycross Promoter GmbH (founded by Red Bull and KW25). From the inaugural season in 2014 ...

. After making one-off appearances for

Boutsen Ginion Racing Boutsen Ginion Racing is a Belgian auto racing team currently competing in the World Touring Car Cup and TCR Benelux Touring Car Championship. The team has previously raced also in Blancpain GT Series, European Le Mans Series and Eurocup Megane ...

in 2018,

Ma Qing Hua Ma Qinghua () (born 25 December 1987 in Shanghai) is a Chinese people, Chinese racing driver currently competing in the 2022 World Touring Car Cup, World Touring Car Cup with Cyan Racing, Cyan Performance Lynk & Co. Ma became the first China, ...

made his full season return with Team Mulsanne, joining

Kevin Ceccon Kevin Ceccon (born 24 September 1993 in Clusone) is a professional racing driver from Italy. Career Karting Prior to his single–seater career, Ceccon enjoyed a long and successful spell in the junior karting ranks. In 2005 he achieved a fif ...

, who drove for the team during the second half of the 2018 season. 2018 ADAC TCR Germany third-place finisher Niels Langeveld joined Audi Sport Team Comtoyou joining

Frédéric Vervisch Frédéric Vervisch ( ; born 10 August 1986 in Kortrijk) is a Belgian racing driver who currently races in the GT World Challenge Europe. Career Early career A winner of numerous karting championships, Vervisch moved to auto racing in 2003 m ...

, while

Gordon Shedden Gordon Shedden (born 15 February 1979) is a Scottish auto racing driver, currently competing in the British Touring Car Championship for the Halfords Racing with Cataclean team. He has previously won the series on three occasions; in 2012, 201 ...

and

Jean-Karl Vernay Jean-Karl "J. K." Vernay (born 31 October 1987) is a French professional racing driver. He was 2010 Indy Lights and 2017 TCR International Series champion. He has won races at the World Touring Car Cup, where he finished fifth in 2018 and won t ...

remained with Audi Sport Leopard Team WRT. The second team entered by Comtoyou – Comtoyou Racing – switched from Audi RS 3 LMS TCR to CUPRA León TCR as the series do not allow more than four cars per manufacturer. Aurélien Panis will remain the team and was joined by

Tom Coronel Tom Romeo Coronel (born 5 April 1972) is a Dutch professional racing driver. Tom's twin brother Tim is also a racer, just like their father Tom Coronel Sr. His most important results are winning the Marlboro Masters of Formula 3 race in 1997, th ...

, who moved from

while keeping his association with the team in the

. Denis Dupont, who raced for Audi Sport Team Comtoyou last season, was to remain with the Comtoyou team in the 2019 TCR Europe Touring Car Series, but he confirmed he withdrew from the TCR Europe Touring Car Series on the 17 April. 2018 TCR Europe Touring Car Series teams' winners

KCMG KCMG may refer to * KC Motorgroup, based in Hong Kong, China * Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, British honour * KCMG-LP, radio station in New Mexico, USA * KCMG, callsign 1997-2001 of Los Angeles radio station KKLQ (FM) ...

entered the series, replacing

, who later switched to the

, as the second Honda team.

Tiago Monteiro Tiago Vagaroso da Costa Monteiro (; born 24 July 1976) is a Portuguese professional racing driver currently competing in the World Touring Car Cup, driving a Honda Civic TCR for Engstler Motorsport. He competed in Formula One between 2005 an ...

will join the team alongside

Attila Tassi Attila Tassi (born 14 June 1999) is a Hungarian racing driver currently competing in the World Touring Car Cup. Having previously competed in the SEAT León Eurocup, TCR International Series and Hungarian Suzuki Cup. Racing career Tassi bega ...

, the

2017 TCR International Series The 2017 TCR International Series was the third and the last season of the TCR International Series. Stefano Comini entered the season as defending double champion, but finished only third in the standings with 30 points behind the new champion ...

runner-up and 4th placed in the 2018 TCR Europe Touring Car Series.

Josh Files Joshua Luke Files (born 9 January 1991) is a British racing driver currently competing in the TCR International Series. Having previously competed in the Renault Clio Cup United Kingdom and Eurocup Clio amongst others. Files won both champions ...

, who drove for the team in the 2018 TCR Europe Touring Car Series, left the team to join

Target Competition Target Competition is an Italian auto racing team based in Eppan an der Weinstraße, Italy. The team is currently competing in the World Touring Car Cup and others TCR series. The team has previously raced in the TCR Europe Touring Car Series, SE ...

in the same series.

teams' winners

PWR Racing PWR Racing is a Swedish auto racing team owned by racing drivers Peter Wallenberg, Jr. and Daniel Haglöf. It currently competes in the TCR Scandinavia Touring Car Championship, the Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia, the World Touring Car Cup, an ...

entered the series with support from Comtoyou Racing, replacing

Campos Racing Campos Racing is a Spanish motor racing team, founded by former Formula One driver Adrián Campos. The team has been successful in Formula Three and the GP2 Series. History After retiring from racing, Campos formed his own team at the end of 19 ...

as the second CUPRA team. 2018 TCR Europe Touring Car Series winner Mikel Azcona and

third-place finisher and team co-owner Daniel Haglöf will drive for the team. Campos Racing drivers –

Pepe Oriola Josep "Pepe" Oriola Vila (born 9 July 1994) is a Spanish racing driver. He became the youngest driver to race in the World Touring Car Championship when he competed in the 2011 season. Oriola is not only the youngest driver to start a WTCC race ...

and

John Filippi John Filippi (born 27 February 1995) is a French auto racing driver who competes in the TCR Europe Touring Car Series for Sébastien Loeb Racing. Racing career Karting Filippi started his karting career in 2007 in the Cadet class. He made his ...

– left the series with Oriola joining Indigo Racing in the

TCR Asia Series The TCR Asia Series is an annual touring car racing event that is held at various locations across Asia. History TCR Asia Series was announced on 14 August 2014 by the organisation behind the TCR series under the name TC3 Asia Series - later chan ...

, while Filippi would race for Vuković Motorsport in the

Zengő Motorsport Zengő Motorsport is a Hungarian motor racing team founded by Zoltán Zengő. They currently compete in the World Touring Car Cup and others TCR championships. The team also used to compete in the SEAT León Eurocup, where they won driver's titl ...

, which also ran CUPRA cars last season, also switched to

DG Sport Compétition DG Sport Compétition is a Belgian auto racing team based in Theux, Belgium. The team has raced in the TCR International Series, since 2017. The also races in the TCR Benelux Touring Car Championship and Belgian Rally Championship. Having previ ...

will also switch to

with Aurélien Comte after

Peugeot Sport Peugeot Sport is the department of French carmaker Peugeot responsible for motorsport activities. History Beginnings in rallying Peugeot Sport was formed in 1981 under the name of Peugeot Talbot Sport, after Jean Todt, a World Rally Champions ...

reduced its support for the 308 TCR.

Maťo Homola Maťo Homola (born 19 July 1994, in Bratislava) is a Slovak racing driver. He is currently driving in TCR Europe in Target Competition with Hyundai i30 N TCR. Maťo became also a brand new Hyundai N ambassador for Slovakia in 2019. After havin ...

left the team to join Target Competition in the TCR Europe Touring Car Series.

Mid-season changes

skipped the

Guia Race of Macau The WTCR Race of Macau, previously Guia Race of Macau and WTCC Guia Race of Macau, is an international touring car race, and currently a round of the World Touring Car Cup. It is held on the temporary 6.2 km Guia Circuit on the streets of Ma ...

due to clashing commitments with FIA GT World Cup held on the same weekend. As the series do not allow drivers race in different event held at the same weekend, he was replaced at BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team by

Luca Engstler Luca Engstler (born 8 March 2000) is a German racing driver currently competing in the WTCR and ADAC TCR Germany Touring Car Championship. Having previously competed in the TCR Middle East Touring Car Series and ADAC Formula 4 amongst others. ...

, who had previously raced as wildcard entry at the Slovakiaring for Hyundai Team Engstler.

Calendar

The 2019 championship was contested in thirty rounds in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...

. A provisional calendar was released on 5 December 2018.

Calendar changes

* The series made their first appearance in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, with the round held at the

Sepang International Circuit The Sepang International Circuit ( ms, Litar Antarabangsa Sepang) is a motorsport race track in Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia. It is located approximately south of Kuala Lumpur, and close to Kuala Lumpur International Airport. It hosted the Fo ...

as the season finale. The race supported the

FIM Endurance World Championship The Endurance World Championship ( FIM EWC) is the premier worldwide endurance championship in motorcycle road racing. The championship season consists of a series of endurance races (with a duration of six, eight, twelve or twenty-four hours) h ...

. * The second round in China, held at the

Wuhan Street Circuit The Wuhan Street Circuit is a street circuit in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the capital of the province of Hubei. History The Wuhan Street Circuit is located around the Wuhan Sports Center, a large sports complex in the city. The street circui ...

, was discontinued. * The Race of Slovakia moved from July date to May date, running after Race of Hungary. This round will also support the

. * The Race of Germany moved from May to June. * In September 2019 it was announced that the Race of Japan would be held on Suzuka's East Course instead of full GP layout used previous year due to an inability to transition the circuit from motorcycles to cars and back in time. It takes a considerable number of weeks to transition the full circuit with special FIM-approved barriers for events under

Motorcycle Federation of Japan The Motorcycle Federation of Japan was established in 1961 as an organization concerning the sport of motorcycle racing in Japan. This organization is also affiliated with the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme. The Motorcycle Federati ...

sanction, and the FIM barriers cannot be used for cars. It marked a return of East Circuit to the schedule after the WTCR's predecessor – WTCC – ran the layout from 2011 to 2013.

Rule changes

Sporting changes

* The grid capacity was increased from 26 to 32 entries. Teams are allowed to enter only two cars, while manufacturers are allowed to be represented by no more than 4 cars. Wildcard entries will not be eligible to score championship points. * The point-scoring system will be overhauled for this season. Now both qualifying sessions will award points for the top 5 drivers and all three races will award an equal number of points for the top 15: 25, 20, 16, 13, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Results

Championship standings

;Scoring system

Drivers' championship

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) † – Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 75% of the race distance.

Teams' championship

(

) † – Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 75% of the race distance.

Notes

References

External links

* {{WTCC seasons

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...