The new FIA WTCR World Touring Car Cup will feature a new three-race format in 2018, together with qualifying on both the Saturday and Sunday of each race weekend.
After Wednesday’s announcement that both the World Touring Car Championship and TCR International Series would cease in 2018, instead being replaced by the two-year WTCR Cup, further details have been revealed.
Saturday will feature two free practice sessions followed by a 30-minute qualifying session for the first race, which will take place later in the day.
Sunday will feature a more traditional format, with a three-segment Q1/Q2/Q3 qualifying format followed by races two and three, with race two featuring the top ten positions after Q2 reversed as is the current format in the WTCC.
Race three will feature the qualifying order from the combined Q3/Q2/Q1 sessions.
Points will be allocated differently to the top ten finishers for all three races in the following order:
Race one: 27-20-17-14-12-10-8-6-4-2
Race two: 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1
Race three: 30-23-19-16-13-10-7-4-2-1
The calendar has been confirmed to feature 30 races over ten events in four different continents, but specific details of the circuits or dates have yet to be released.
A minimum of two cars per team are required, with entry fees set by the FIA at €150,000. A maximum of 26 full-season entries are permitted, with an additional two wildcard entries also being allowed.