After a great 2012 season, where we saw a great championship fight between Yvan Muller, Alain Menu and Rob Huff, it's time to look ahead to 2013 and 2014, as the championship moves into what could be considered its 'third' phase.

What's the championship doing right? What's the championship doing wrong?

Right: The promotion through TV. It's an obvious key to its success. Also, I think the "closeness" is important: fans can go through the paddock and speak to their favourite drivers.

Wrong: I'm slightly concerned about this change in technical regulations foreseen for 2014. I hope that the current committed manufacturers won't be pushed away by yet another change. Also, there is a general perception that races should be longer.

It's a good point about pushing people away. However, in terms of committed manufacturers, principally that's just Honda, and they don't seem too concerned about it. I guess that's because they recognise that's the only way to bring competition in.

I suspect that will be more of a problem for independent teams, running the older cars, and how these regulations apply to them. Also, the Ford team - who are struggling as it is to convince Ford to join without the added expense of developing yet another new car.

Tamara: I agree. Promotion is good, closeness is as well. And WTCC has a good on track package - lots of action, no holding back, close racing, overtaking. And it is positively different in comparison to other championships.

I'm positive about the new rules. Why? It'll give the series a new foundation. Which should make it easier for new manufacturers to join because everybody begins from zero (to a certain extent at least). But I share your concern, Neil, that especially independent teams may find it difficult to either run old-spec cars or buy new-spec cars.

And I agree: If Honda are okay with it and new manufacturers do join, then everybody will benefit from it.

TV package is all well and good, but here in the UK it could be a whole lot better. There have been times this season when races and qualifying have been punted down the schedule in favour of Nordic Combined, or U17 football. For a championship backed by Eurosport and (surely) with a big market in the UK, this seems self-defeatist.

I should add the coverage and comms are always good though, while the nicely-produced 'Inside WTCC' is an absolute gem of a programme.

It still needs wider exposure in the UK too - assuming it is an important market. Huffy's title has been played as some sort of novelty world title, judging by the reaction of UK TV, radio and press. Is the credibility of the championship the same overseas?

Yes, I think the UK is an issue but some of that comes down to the fact that the UK already has a strong touring car championship with a more established history.

In terms of scheduling, I think that's a general issue with Eurosport as it has a lot of programming, though the growth of internet broadcasting is one of the more logical moves, and almost all practice, qualifying and races are broadcast live online. I think the WTCC is one of the lesser impacted series in terms of schedule movements, compared to say the World Series By Renault.

The UK is probably not as important a market as say China and Eastern Europe, but technology wise it certainly is. I've seen fair exposure of Huff's title in the UK press though, more than I expected.

Granted there was some exposure to Huff's title in the UK (as there was when Andy Priaulx won his), but it's the quality of it I think is telling here. It didn't appear on the news bulletins - on radio or TV - last Sunday.

Once it did, it was as though it was an after-thought - something to bolt on once the content of Sir Alex Ferguson's tea had been dissected - on the sports stations. Even the newspapers local to Huffy don't push their world champion as much as I have seen Squash World Champions pushed by similar papers.

If the WTCC is going to move up to the next level, it needs to widen the exposure net, even if that means putting together a highlights show and giving it away to ITV.

It's the same over here in Germany, by the way. F1 and (a bit less so) DTM get all the motor racing coverage. WTCC just isn't a topic in sports magazines or newspapers. Which is, as it is in Britain, quite understandable in terms of how huge F1 and BTCC/DTM are.

And I agree: Putting it on a TV station other than Eurosport might help. It did with RTL in Germany. 10-minute-highlights before F1 qualy. I think it worked fine. More than 1 million viewers each time. And by then BMW wasn't even in with a works team anymore.

What WTCC needs to make that next step: Loeb. We've seen it with WRC. Kimi came and all of a sudden it was gaining so much. Could be the same for WTCC - and not only with Loeb.

ITV4 ran WTCC highlights a few years ago as well, but probably scared themselves off as the viewing figures didn't compare well to the BTCC's, but that's hardly surprising given the points I've made before, plus they were just highlights.

In the '90s, the BBC used to be able to use F1 to promote their coverage of the BTCC as well. Nothing like that happens now, F1 is kept to its own silo and the other motorsports are considered niche and then left alone.

The problem is sports prgramming as a whole. In recent years, the bigger sports receive an unfair weighting of the exposure, leaving no room for the minorities. It's just the way things are now when 'reader counts' are the only thing that matters. Stops anything else from growing.

Anyway, any thoughts or questions on the show itself, the races, the rules, the competition, incoming manufacturers etc.?

Packaged together with Auto GP works well and I think is mutually beneficial. It's a decent single-seater category.

Races - I would personally like to see a longer race two perhaps with mandatory pit/fuel stops. It doesn't have to be too much longer, but the traditionalist in me loved the 87 WTCC...

Balance of circuits I think is good too. Salzburgring was an ingenious choice - fascinating place. Macau will always be the crown jewel, while the continental balance is just right. Of course I would like a round in the UK. I appreciate it is hard to justify things in terms of costs, but with a British champ again (and more UK drivers in 2013), now is the time to strike (and take the hit).

Perhaps a street race somewhere in a European capital would add to the allure for sponsors, manufacturers and the like. London in my dreams; but what about Paris? Sure, the car specs would have to be tweaked. But think of all of these TCs running around Paris...

Rules and regs seem to be working fine. I know Chevvy secured the majority of the wins this season, but the complete format ensured the privateers gave a good account of themselves. Perhaps a little more needs to be done for them, but then that would negate any manufacturer involvement I guess.

Hope others add to the debate, as much as I appreciate you putting me in my place, Neil!

Salzburgring was easily my favourite addition to this season, a beautiful area and a very interesting, albeit basic circuit.

Longer races are just one of those complicated factors. Race distances were increased this year, but with the one engine for a season rules, any distance increase will need consideration with the regulations.

I'm interested to see what people's opinions are on pit stops. Personally, I see them as an unnecessary gimmick, and would favour the works teams too much as they'd be able to put together the best pit team. Of course that would also necessitate further changes to the technical and sporting regulations as well. Don't forget those wheels take some time to change too (not single nut).

Hello all!

Despite the three Chevy's dominating this year, I quite liked how the calendar is working out, especially with the race in the USA. Saying that however, if they want to push into the USA I think they need to increase the marketing for it. While there was a healthy crowd for the races, outside of a few local blogs there was not a great deal of advertising for the race, I would of thought Speed would of made a bit more noise about it considering they were showing the race. Then I'm also beginning to wonder if the race will be relevant after 2014 if there is no works Ford team by then, because unless there are a few BMW's still around none of the cars (European Civic, Lada, Citroën, Renault[?]) will hold any marketing value in US.

Of course, maybe we could see a US team/drivers enter if some decides to take advantage of the new S2000 rules in the USTCC, then maybe that could give some reasons. On a personal note however, I hope they find reasons to keep the race because I have always been fond of Sears Point.

As for pit stops, I'm on the fence. I like the idea of seeing cars running into the pit lane and the mechanics running around doing what is needed, but I'm not sure if it would add anything to the racing.

Hello Iain,

The USA race was a great event, and I've been very surprised to see some of negative statements out there about the race's promotion, as from what I saw nothing could have been further from the truth. You market a race locally, so from elsewhere it's difficult to pick up on what's happening. There was a lot of internet advertising, and there were lots of TV interviews with the drivers, I've never seen that happen anywhere else, so I'm going to have to disagree with you there.

I can see your point over the manufacturers' interest in the US race though, though I still think Honda can make a big thing about it, even if strictly speaking the exact specification of Honda they're racing isn't available in the US market.

Mr Stone, as for a UK round, it's definitely something I'd like as well, but I can understand why there isn't one. A London street race of course will only ever be a dream (a pretty amazing one at that).

I think the main place in western Europe the WTCC needs to get back to is France. Pau can deliver a great street race, and I think we need more than the two a year we have, but with Sébastien Loeb and Citroën on their way in and a big name in Yvan Muller in the Championship, it's a shame we're not racing there at the moment.

Fair point, I did notice the USTCC and Sonoma raceway were making a great deal of noise about the event. Plus post race, Speedhunters did an article and Shakedown did a video on whether or not it could make it in the USA. Time will tell, but do hope the USTCC can get something out this as well. I never heard of them until the WTCC mentioned them.

I would like to see where Honda will go with this. They have two very capable drivers with Tarquini and Monteiro and with the possibility of two more Honda's next year I hope good things come from it all.

One rumour that I have been following for a while however is one about Subaru joining the WTCC sometime in the future. Is this still just a rumour?

Two years ago, Subaru were all set to enter the WTCC, probably this (2012) season, then unfortunately the Tsunami struck Japan.

There's been no talk of a new Subaru programme recently, everything has been idle internet forum gossip.

Hi!

Regarding my earlier comment, I had a conversation back in summer with "Papa" Oriola (as I call him) in which he said that they had it all set for 2013 with SEAT "and the new car".

I read this week that this "new car" is being delayed until, at least, 2014, waiting to see what FIA will do with regards to the technical regulations.

Obviously, this comes in hand with the strong rumour that the Spanish race will be dropped for 2013, and perhaps recovered for 2014.

It doesn't take too much for me to put 2 and 2 together and come to the conclussion that, without a firm involvement from a manufacturer, and in a year when the Spanish Federation has elected a new governing team (we should have a president next Saturday), probably nobody wants to make the effort of supporting a race here...

A crying shame and a huge set back for the Spanish drivers and the journalists who have tried to bring the popularity of the championship to the spot light.

In Spain WTCC got a lot of help from JAvi Villa, who is a very nice and agreeable bloke, and who drawed a lot of fans. Now we are in danger of seeing what we build from him disappearing.

Yes, I know the new León was being worked on, but Puig indicates now that they won't be running it next year - but then that diesel came out of nowhere so you can never be too sure with SEAT :)

I think the Spanish race being dropped now is merely a formality - a long drive to Porto it is for you next year :)

Well, surprisingly, Porto is the closest race to home!! Earlier comments from you made me think about a rescue of Pau (yeah, dreaming is free).

If the Spanish race would have gone to Navarra (they got the award for the best organized FIA GT race for the second year running), the distance from home would have beaten Porto for just 65km, just about 40 miles!

Just for discussion purposes, here's an article I wrote at the weekend about all of the rumours currently doing the rounds about next year and 2014
neil-hudson.blogspot.co.uk

Great article Neil, I really enjoy reading! 2013 will indeed be a great year. The championship fights will be very open. I must say that personally I hope RML will stay (preferable with the Cruze). And also looking forward how Honda will try to get the title. I hope it will be a harder fight then how it was this year, although the three Chevrolet drivers really made it a spectacular final! I am a Chevrolet fan, but I love a thight fight! Fingers crossed for Huffy in 2013 in my opnion.

As for circuits, it's a shame Portimao isnt on the calendar. I really enjoyed it last year. And I still try to get the WTCC to the TT circuit in Assen! It has great hospitality, an excellent paddock, easy access and the track is just awesome for touringcars.

Thanks. If RML race next year, it will be with the Cruze, no question.

You're right, the Chevrolet fight was probably the closest battle in the WTCC since 2009, and it was a real fight, even though it was between team-mates.

Portimao was a great circuit, though I wasn't too keen on the area, bit too touristy. If we lose it for Porto, I don't mind, we need a better share of street circuits.

Hi all and thank you for adding to the branch. After reading previous posts in the branch, my thought on WTCC in the next coming years is that I agree with Mr Stone on longer races, maybe not as long as F1 at around the 1hr 45 minute mark, but maybe towards the hour mark. I also feel that this should not include pitstops. Yokohama could look at a more durable tyre, similar to Dunlop's wider NGTC tyre and with a review of the regulations, this could be incorporated into them. As Neil pointed out, pitstops favour the works teams. With aerodynamic changes in mind, does mean we could see S2000 cars looking similiar to DTM or the TTA/STCC cars...

@Neil: Street circuits are fun, although harder to watch live. Portimao offered a lot of action for the fans, therefor a nice circuit. Same with Valencia and Oschersleben.

@Phil: I hope the cars wont look like DTM cars. All those cars look alike and totally dont resemble the real cars u can own yourself. Thats the best part about WTCC. A Cruze looks like a Cruze, a Leon like a Leon and so on. Plus all cars look different and are easy to spot. But yeah, I love a longer race for sure :).

To add further, once again Neil your blog posts are imformative and make sense. Personally my thought on the RML Cruze situation is that they keep on Huffy and Menu. I believe both will still pose a threat to the Honda's and the Lada's also. However I wouldnt be surprised to see Muller at Renault in 2014. The thought of Muller vs Loeb is an enticing one. But I feel that WTCC in 2013 looks to be just as exciting year as 2012. If Ford expand to three cars and find an increase on pace to challenge along with the BMW's and Seat's, I expect a much closer field to fight for the titles, overall and independent.

The cars won't become silhouettes like the Solution-F TTA or DTM cars, at their heart they will still be production based race cars, but the belief is they'll have a more aggressive aero kit, which will make them look a little more 'racy'.

Longer races are a popular call. They were already increased from 50km to 60km this year though, and extending them even further whilst enforcing the new 'one engine per season' regulation becomes a problem.

Daniel, I agree. I dont want DTM looking cars, I love that S2000 cars maintain the same look as their roadgoing cousins. For me a Touring Car should look like the road legal car on the outside and be a thoroughbred racing machine underneath.

As for circuits, I'd love a return to Porto and if the series does return to the UK, I would recommend Donington, but we all know better... I'd like to see an idea mooted in Autosport last year... WTCC racing on the Nordeschleife. However I'm aware of the financial issues of the german circuit and also the safety implications.

General comments heard at tracks and from fans would favour a GP2-style weekend: a sprint race and a feature race, with a pit stop.

Perhaps the pit stop itself would be a problem, because of the tyre issue, and the pit crew issue, etc, and I see you do have a point, but maybe longer races could be done with a harder compound.

I personally love Porto, I think it's a great track (back in '11 one of the photo shuttle drivers was racing with the Fiat Uno Cup and he gave me some racy runs around!!), and I agree with the balance between street and permanent tracks.

Another drean would be to see the WTCC in Silverstone...

As per your blog article Neil, I count, at least, 25 permanent cars in WTCC next year, and I definitely like the sound of that!

(Shame about Subaru, I think the WTCC would of gained a great deal of attention if they entered but dealing with the Tsunami is far more important.)

Why not have the WTCC at Knockhill? Sure it's not as high tech as the other places in the UK, but it's a fun track to watch touring cars!

Personally I wouldn't mind 2 45 minute races or something similar to how the BTCC does things with three races.

as a 'TV regular', I'm against longer races — at least against significantly longer races. An increase to 70 - 80 km might be possible but everything else will be too long to watch. The essence of WTCC is that there is a lot of action in a very short amount of time.. I don't want them to lose that character

Tamara, I'm pretty sure that the ETCC/WTCC raced there before they moved to Brands Hatch. However, my thought on this is that not all Grand Prix tracks make for good touring car racing....the exceptions being Hungary and Monza. But this begs the question, what makes for a good touring car track?

As for entry numbers, its usually been around the 20 - 25 mark in recent years, but compared to F1, thats a decent sized field.

Also what is an ideal length of time for touring car races? Currently most BTCC and WTCC are around 40 minutes, give or take a safety car or two...

Great question Phil - what does make a good touring car track?

If not longer races then, how about a third race? A Saturday race that determines the grid for race three. Perhaps wouldn't help those drivers who write off their cars, but achievable in the package surely?

@Iain Financial reasons aside, Knockhill would be a great track to race on but the paddock facilities as they are would be incompatible with the WTCC.

@Phil @Tamara Silverstone hosted the first British WTCC round in 2005 at the International circuit. It was a good event, and I don't subscribe to this 'F1 tracks aren't good for touring car racing' myth.

@Neil as ever I bow to your knowledge. I was wondering then would the Grand Prix circuit at Korea be a feasible addition? It has long straights and a tight twisty section. With race length, surely with any additional distance added to the current 50-60 kms and engine life expectancy then expected to be stretched further, its down to development in making the engines go further for the manufacturer and customer teams? Or does this bring on the subject of escalating costs...

Also with KERS becoming the norm in F1 and Sportcars, does it have a place in WTCC?

Re Silverstone, I would love to go back there. But Thruxton, Knockhill and Oulton Park would be great too. At the end of the day, you just need a Grade 4 homologation for touring car racing.

Another good option, having been a GP track, is Jerez.

With regards to KERS, I'm not sure about that, I know BMWs implement it in road cars. I had an interview with Jens Marquardt (head of BMW motorsport) and asked him about seeing hybrid technology in DTM, and he said that his car had a provision for it, and he could see it coming into the tech regulations in a few years time.

Perhaps the same for WTCC?

I hope I'm not too late to post here, and I hope I don't repeat anyone's comments above.

From a personal point of view, I would love a Brands Hatch round of the WTCC again. It usually generates great racing (and, to me, it's close to my home so I could get there :p) and is a legendary track. UK TV coverage would probably improve too. Hopefully Huff's win will improve this?

The issue I often see with the WTCC is that the tracks are often way too wide. Using international circuits and F1 tracks is all very well, but wide tracks by nature tends not to generate bumper-to-bumper racing as there is so much room elsewhere. I like to see fans close to the track, and with a long lap, like in Shanghai, fans are all over the place around the track.

I prefer short races too. Pitstops in touring cars is unnecessary to me, as sprint races generate more bravery and closer racing, as longer races will just generate large gaps amongst the field.

Sonoma & Salzburgring were both great additions this year, but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by Shanghai, despite my earlier comments. And Macau is always a favourite, like Monza.

As for teams, I hope RML stick around. Would be a real shame to lose them now. The calibre of the teams was really high in 2012, and I hope Arena can build up that Focus to get it nearer the front. It definitely has potential as James Nash showed in Marrakech (if I recall correctly). The British drivers really did show their worth this year. Really promising!

I too think that with the current race lenght pit stops are not reasonable. You need at least an hour long race for that. But if we had pit stops, I would like a GT Open-like time compansation system. With that you always see the real preformance of the cars, and have nice battles through the race. It works quite well in GT Open.

Beside that I would love to have some of the classic veterans back. Rydell, Giovanardi, Zanardi and other great guys like Porteiro, Hernandez, Terting, Turkington, Dahlgren. Not to mention the good old BMW boys, Priaulx, Farfus and the Müllers.

I hope that the possible future change to 1.6 turbo engines in TTA will sooner or later bring Volvo back to WTCC. It was a very nice first season last year.

I always thought Volvo would come back when the V40 was ready, but there were some rumours that this wouldn't happen in the end, right?

@Andras I share your thoughts on WTCC having the best drivers back in the series like Giovanardi and the others but in this day in age, money and sponsors talk and get them seats in touring cars with so few works teams around.

My opinion is one often shared by Martin Haven in his commentary. BMW should have stayed with a works team and would have been fighting Chevrolet for titles. I also think that if Dahlgren had gotten that missed podium in Germany in 2011, we could have seen two works Volvo's this year and that C30 with its 1.6 turbo was mighty...

The STCC's adoption of 1.6 turbocharged engines from 2014 will mainly give manufacturers a reason to be in that championship, it won't necessarily open the door for Volvo to join the WTCC. As far as I'm aware, the Volvo programme is suspended indefinitely, which is certainly a shame.

And Mr. Stone, a third race would add 50% to the distance an engine has to run, which would add a substantial development cost to the manufacturers who for the most part aren't in the Championship at the moment, so I'd see slightly longer races as the only practical possibility.

As for the big name drivers, of course we want to see those, but will need proper sponsors and manufacturers first though to be able to pay for them!:)

BTW I've just read that BTCC is also thinking on the introduction of feature races with pit stops in the future.

Hi Andras, I read that in Autosport last week. That alluded to if BTCC had a full NGTC field of cars.

I am hopeful that more manufacturers will enter in the coming years along with those already entering in the shape of Honda, Lada and Citroen. Should Renault take up the option of joining forces with RML, I hope Ford decide to take the plunge and back Team Aon. This could also open up the driver market in the next few seasons with up to 4 works teams and at least two cars per team.

Yes, the BTCC had feature races with pit stops up until 2004. They stopped when Super 2000 was introduced, as the S2000 cars would have been at a significant disadvantage in a pit stop as the BTC-spec cars had single nut wheels. With NGTC going back the other way, the door is open for their return.

When BTCC dropped the pit stops they added the extra race and the reversed grid, which had really been pioneered by the ETCC up to that point.

Neil, what would You change in the technical regulations, if it were up to You?

Very interesting discussion, by the way! :)

I think the best way forward (for 2014) is not to change too many things at once. We've seen that in F1 with KERS, DRS and the Pirelli tyres. At least in my opinion this was a bit too much.

What I would do: Increase the race distance to 75 km each, have a proper qualifying session to determine grid 1, use the fastest lap of each driver in race 1 to build grid 2 (reverse grid or not? I'm not sure...), play the national anthems in full length on the podium, have WTCC streamed on the internet for free (all sessions). And get back some "big names" - drivers like Giovanardi, Zanardi, Turkington, Müller (as named before) and tracks like Brands, Pau etc.

I'm with Stefan for the most part. I don't think we need a major change in the technical regulations, just a refresh to get some new manufacturers interested, which seems to be what's happening. Super 2000 is a good base for manufacturers to work from, as are the new 1.6 turbo engines, it's working well for rallying as well.

Slightly longer races would be nice, some variety to spice things up perhaps too. E.g. perhaps a long form race at certain circuits (1x120km, double points, one pit stop) - maybe at Sonoma.

I think the new qualifying is much improved, but in all honesty the pre-2011 system was fine, top eight/ten of race one reversed would be good.

I've already said I think a return to France is the most important thing for the WTCC at the minute. I like street tracks, but a return to Magny-Cours would be great as well.

Although a UK round is unlikely, if there was to be one, I think the best candidate would and should be Rockingham. It's a great circuit for touring cars, it would add something special as the only part-oval on the WTCC calendar, it has a good sized paddock and facilities which would be good for the WTCC and its supports, and it would also be good for Rockingham's exposure and profile.

I'm afraid Croft, Knockhill, Thruxton probably would struggle to support the WTCC's entourage, and MSV aren't particularly interested (Oulton Park, Brands Hatch, Snetterton).

I like the idea of having a "bigger" race at selected circuits. That could be really something!

To take that a step further: Think about what V8 Supercars are doing at Surfers Paradise (now that would be a nice WTCC destination!). They invite guest drivers from all over the world to share the cars with the regular drivers. Would be a nice one-off race for WTCC which could expose it to "different" drivers and audiences, of course. It seems to work for V8. I know because that's the one V8 race weekend I get up early to watch it live (okay, last time it matched with WTCC in Asia...). What do you think? Maybe that would be a bit too much...

Only thing with that, Stefan, to me is that there's a limit to the number of cars, so in theory more classes would have to be allowed such as Clios, non-turbos, silhouettes or perhaps even NGTC. Would be a great spectacle though.

What I had in mind was that the guest drivers would share driving duties with the regular drivers in the series' regular cars. So the number of cars on the grid would be the same, just two drivers on one car.

What about having the races on different days, like in WSR? :) Btw, I love the idea of Stefan about race 2 grid made up according to reversed fastest laps from r1.

I love the idea of Rockingham as a WTCC venue. Went there in 2011 to watch the BTCC rounds and loved watching from the Grandstand that allowed complete viewing of all the circuit used and from on top of the pit garages. Also it offers another new circuit to a growing calendar...were it to happen.

I agree that with Renault and Citroen looking at entering the WTCC, a return to France is a good idea. Maybe there could be room for both Magny-Cours and Pau?

As for qualifying and race format, Stefan I love the idea of one qualifying session for race one and then fastest laps used for race two. I've always thought of reversing the entire grid for race two. Give the works drivers some hard work to get through the field.

As for race length I was thinking of 100 kms maximum. Also I like the ideas of one off specials at races as Neil suggested. Stefans idea of allowing celebrity drivers in would be good too. Maybe at an often visited popular WTCC circuit? Say Porto. It offers overtaking and close, fast racing on a popular street circuit.

Coverage on the internet is always popular, it works for BTCC Qualifying and with a decent highlights programme on ITV4, could add a bigger audience.

Stefan, you also picked up on my biggest bugbear in WTCC. The National Anthems! Play them in Full! Its just as important to these guys as it is to F1 drivers...

I think the WTCC going into Asia is a good move. Currently you have a developing car market with India and China serving as the two emerging ones with the manufacturers producing specific cars just for those markets, similar to how Brazil has it's own specific cars. With touring car racing based around the idea of using production based cars I think it has the potential to be more relevant to those markets than F1. Saying that I think the WTCC should look at India, Malaysia or Korea next (only if it can find a way of getting Kia or Hyundai involved.) to help build on developments that F1 has made in those countries. As for long term in the Asia Pacific region in general, I'd love to see the WTCC have a race in New Zealand or Australia.

That comment about the national anthems: I agree 100%. When I used to catch up on the WTCC (I only started watching in 2011, really), I always thought it was cut for TV, but having seen it live this year it clearly isn't! It's a bit ridiculous. Even the BTCC plays the national anthems in full, and most drivers there are British!

Rockingham would be an interesting move for the WTCC. But the organisers really don't seem motivated to get it back to the UK which is a shame.

Guest driver event would be great - similar to the Buenos Aires 200km event which of course all the Chevrolet drivers and Tarquini have taken part in. Just not sure who would pay for it!

I've heard the fastest laps idea mentioned before. Personally I'm not a fan, as you don't really get to follow what's going on for the grid as you'll be too busy following the actual race. We'll be dashing around waiting for that grid for the second race after the first race one! :)

Phil, full reverse grids were used in the European Super Touring days (up to 2001). Also briefly in V8 Supercars, though they're a bit too gimmicky and cause too much damage. I think top ten is far enough :)

James, it's not the organisers, it's the UK circuits motivation.

Yeah I think top ten is enough really. Realistically, moving 24-odd cars from front to back and back to front is a bit strange to me...

I stand corrected Neil! How do we motivate Rockingham...?!

It's a shame that no one in the UK seems to be trying to pull in anyone. There is a track that is being built in Wales which could hold the WTCC.

Plus agree with playing the full national anthems.

I have no idea, let's ask them :)

I do believe the short anthems are because of TV time, as the drivers need to be carted off to the TV interview room before Eurosport goes off air to show something else. It's all part of that compact scheduling.

All of my ideas are present here (one long race in the season, more city circuit, bring back the veterans, back to france ...), only one missing: in the big end-of-summer break, maybe there could be a show event like what dtm has got too.

Also I think introducing KERS and such stuff, would greatly increase the prices, nailing all of the competitiveness of the independents in such conditions where the team which won the Yokohama trophy is very insure whether they could afford such a campaign what this year...

I am hoping that the track in Wales does come to fruition. I know from reports about the circuit that they have advised with people such as Tim Harvey and Valentino Rossi to bring high level motorsports such as WTCC and MotoGP.

Neil, I asked Jean-Louis Dauger about this on twitter and he confirmed that tight scheduling is the reason. Hoping this will improve in future seasons.

For me, I feel the future looks good and that WTCC should prosper and grow further over the next few seasons.

Thanks everyone for taking part in this. I hope to do a few more in the future, but so to not keep this thread open for too long I'm going to close it down for now and introduce more topics later.

Thanks again.