2010 World Touring Car Championship Explained

The 2010 World Touring Car Championship season was the seventh season of the FIA World Touring Car Championship, and the sixth since its 2005 return. It began with the Race of Brazil at Curitiba on 7 March and ended with the Guia Race of Macau at the Guia Circuit on 21 November, after twenty-two races at eleven events. The championship was open to both Super 2000 and Diesel 2000 cars.[1]

A new points system was introduced for the championship in 2010, in alignment with that used for both the Formula One World Championship and the World Rally Championship. The winner of each race received 25 points, continuing with 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 1 point for 10th place.[2]

In the week leading up to the final event in Macau, 2008 champion Yvan Muller was confirmed as Drivers' Champion after the BMWs of Augusto Farfus and title rival Andy Priaulx were excluded from the results of the event in Japan, after the FIA overturned a stewards' decision allowing the BMWs to run sequential gearboxes.[3] Chevrolet was awarded the Manufacturers' Championship title.

Teams and drivers

The full season entry list was released on 19 February 2010.[4]

TeamCarNo.DriversEvents
Manufacturer Teams
SR-SportSEAT León 2.0 TDI1 Gabriele TarquiniAll
2 Tom CoronelAll
3 Tiago MonteiroAll
4 Jordi Gené1–9
Zengő-Dension TeamSEAT León 2.0 TDI5 Norbert MicheliszAll
Chevrolet RMLChevrolet Cruze LT6 Yvan MullerAll
7 Robert HuffAll
8 Alain MenuAll
9 Carlos "Cacá" Bueno6
BMW Team RBMBMW 320si10 Augusto FarfusAll
11 Andy PriaulxAll
SUNRED EngineeringSEAT León 2.0 TDI17 Michel NykjærAll
SEAT Swiss Racing by SUNREDSEAT León 2.0 TDI18 Fredy BarthAll
eBay MotorsBMW 320si29 Colin Turkington7
Team Aviva-COFCO10–11
Chevrolet Motorsport SwedenChevrolet Cruze LT34 Leonel Pernía3
Chevrolet RMLChevrolet Cruze LT35nowrap Vincent Radermecker4
SR-SportSEAT León 2.0 TDI66 André Couto11
73 Michaël Rossi10
Yokohama Trophy
Liqui Moly Team EngstlerBMW 320si15 Franz EngstlerAll
16 Andrey Romanov1–5, 7–11
42 Tim Coronel6
bamboo-engineeringChevrolet Lacetti19 Harry Vaulkhard1–7
20 Darryl O'YoungAll
72 Yukinori Taniguchi8–11
Wiechers-SportBMW 320si21 Mehdi BennaniAll
Poulsen MotorsportBMW 320si24 Kristian Poulsen3–11
Scuderia Proteam MotorsportBMW 320si25 Sergio HernándezAll
26 Stefano D'Aste1–10
33 Fabio Fabiani3, 7–8
Exagon EngineeringSEAT León 2.0 TFSI27 Pierre-Yves Corthals4
eBay MotorsBMW 320si29 Colin Turkington5–6
Maurer MotorsportChevrolet Lacetti30 Ismaïl Sbaï2
31 Youssaf El Marnissi2
SUNRED EngineeringSEAT León 2.0 TFSI38 Tom Boardman6
SEAT Customers Technology39 Marc Carol9
Asian Wild Card Entries
Scuderia Proteam MotorsportBMW 320si43 Nobuteru Taniguchi10–11
45 Kevin Chen10–11
Liqui Moly Team EngstlerBMW 320si44 Yoshihiro Ito10
47 Masaki Kano11
50 Jo Merszei11
Wiechers-SportBMW 320si46 Masataka Yanagida10
nowrap Ho Chun Kei / Sports & You AsiaBMW 320si51 Henry Ho10–11
Jacob & Co RacingHonda Accord Euro R53 Philip Ma11
Team Novadriver TotalBMW 320si63 César Campaniço11
Andy Racing TeamnowrapHonda Accord Euro R64 Kuok Io Keong11
Chan Kin ManHonda Civic Type R65 Chan Kin Man11
nowrap Volvo Olsbergs Green RacingVolvo C3041 Robert Dahlgren6, 10

Team and driver changes

Chevrolet replaced the retiring Nicola Larini in their three-car line-up with ex-SEAT Sport driver Yvan Muller. A fourth Chevrolet Cruze was entered in Italy for Leonel Pernía, with Nika Racing running the car under the Chevrolet Motorsport Sweden banner. Vincent Radermecker drove the car for the RML-run squad at the next race in Belgium, with Cacá Bueno driving it in the UK.

BMW Motorsport announced they were reducing their participation from a five-car team to a two-car team, with Augusto Farfus moving from BMW Team Germany to Team RBM to join Andy Priaulx. Former BMW Team Italy-Spain driver Alex Zanardi retired from the series, while former BMW Team Germany driver Jörg Müller raced in the Le Mans Series with Schnitzer.

SEAT Sport withdrew from the series for 2010, but helped Sunred to form a new team SR-Sport, for whom Independents champion Tom Coronel and ex-SEAT Sport drivers Jordi Gené, Tiago Monteiro and Gabriele Tarquini drove for.

Stefano D'Aste returned to Scuderia Proteam Motorsport, for whom he raced in 2005, 2006 and 2008, moving from Wiechers-Sport. His seat was taken by Mehdi Bennani, who moved from Exagon Engineering. D'Aste was joined at Proteam by Sergio Hernández, who returned to Proteam from BMW Team Italy-Spain. Fabio Fabiani raced an additional car for the team at his home event in Italy, just as he did in 2009.

Andrey Romanov rejoined the series and the Liqui Moly Team Engstler setup. He replaced Kristian Poulsen, who raced with his own Poulsen Motorsport team. Romanov could not drive at Brands Hatch for personal reasons, so was replaced by Tim Coronel.

Michel Nykjær joined SUNRED Engineering after racing in the WTCC for Perfection Racing at the 2009 Race of Germany. He replaced Tom Boardman, who returned to the BTCC, driving for Special Tuning (UK). Boardman returned to the WTCC with SUNRED for his home event. Fredy Barth joined the team from the SEAT León Eurocup, racing under the SEAT Swiss Team by SUNRED banner. Zengő Dension Motorsport joined the series, along with their driver, León Eurocup champion Norbert Michelisz, who drove the SUNRED prize car on two occasions – in 2008 and 2009.

British Touring Car team Bamboo Engineering joined the WTCC, along with their driver Harry Vaulkhard. Darryl O'Young, who drove in the FIA GT Championship with Prospeed Competition in 2009, was his teammate for most of this season, before Vaulkhard was forced to withdraw owing to a lack of sponsorship, and was replaced by Yukinori Taniguchi.

James Thompson, who drove for Lada Sport in 2009, was set to race at certain European rounds for Hartmann Racing, in addition to campaigns in the Danish Touring Car Championship and European Touring Car Cup, but left the team, whilst Lada did not return for 2010.

SEAT's Rickard Rydell elected to take a sabbatical from racing for the 2010 season. Instead, he became a TV pundit for Viasat Motor's coverage of the Swedish Touring Car Championship.

Jaap van Lagen returned to the Porsche Supercup, a series in which he finished seventh in 2008.

Without drives for 2010 were Lada's Kirill Ladygin, and Félix Porteiro, who drove for Proteam in 2009.

Maurer Motorsport were set to run three Chevrolet Lacettis at Marrakech for Moroccan racers Ismaïl Sbaï, Youssaf El Marnissi and Larbi Tadlaoui. Tadlaoui did not attend for personal reasons, while El Marnissi crashed in the Friday test session.

Pierre-Yves Corthals made a one-off return to the series with his old team, Exagon Engineering, for his home event in Belgium.

Having been without a drive in any series, 2009 British Touring Car Champion Colin Turkington rejoined the series in Portugal with West Surrey Racing, with backing from eBay Motors.

Swedish championship team Polestar Racing and driver Robert Dahlgren raced once again at Brands Hatch, and also raced in Japan, in a nationally-homologated Volvo C30.

Calendar

A provisional calendar for the 2010 season was approved by the FIA World Council on 24 June 2009.[5] The final calendar was published on 21 October 2009.[6] The Race of Mexico at Autódromo Miguel E. Abed, Puebla, scheduled for 11 April, was cancelled in March due to security fears in the region.[7] Series organisers looked for a replacement, but negotiations with interested event promoters did not meet with the championship’s logistic and promotional requirements, meaning the season was reduced to eleven events.[8]

EventRace NameTrackDate
1R1HSBC Race of Brazil Autódromo Internacional de Curitiba7 March
R2
2R3Race of Morocco Marrakech Street Circuit2 May
R4
3R5Yokohama Race of Italy Autodromo Nazionale di Monza23 May
R6
4R7Monroe Race of Belgium Circuit Zolder20 June
R8
5R9Race of Turismo de Portugal Autódromo Internacional do Algarve4 July
R10
6R11Mariott Race of UK Brands Hatch18 July
R12
7R13Monroe Race of the Czech Republic Masaryk Circuit1 August
R14
8R15Race of Germany Motorsport Arena Oschersleben5 September
R16
9R17DHL Race of Spain Circuit Ricardo Tormo19 September
R18
10R19Kenwood Race of Japan Okayama International Circuit31 October
R20
11R21Race of Macau Guia Circuit21 November
R22

Calendar changes

Results and standings

Races

RacenowrapRace NamenowrapPole PositionnowrapFastest lapnowrapWinning drivernowrapWinning teamnowrapWinning independentReport
1 Race of Brazil Yvan Muller Robert Huff Yvan Muller ChevroletReport
2 SR-Sport Sergio Hernández
3 Race of Morocco Fredy Barth Gabriele Tarquini SR-Sport Franz EngstlerReport
4 Jordi Gené Andy Priaulx Mehdi Bennani
5 Race of Italy Augusto Farfus Gabriele Tarquini Andy Priaulx BMW Team RBM Harry VaulkhardReport
6 Andy Priaulx Yvan Muller Chevrolet Stefano D'Aste
7 Race of Belgium Gabriele Tarquini Andy Priaulx Gabriele Tarquini SR-Sport Kristian PoulsenReport
8 Andy Priaulx Andy Priaulx BMW Team RBM Sergio Hernández
9 Race of Portugal Tiago Monteiro Gabriele Tarquini Tiago Monteiro SR-Sport Sergio HernándezReport
10 Jordi Gené Gabriele Tarquini SR-Sport Darryl O'Young
11 Race of UK Yvan Muller Andy Priaulx Yvan Muller Chevrolet Colin TurkingtonReport
12 Andy Priaulx Andy Priaulx BMW Team RBM Colin Turkington
13 Robert Huff Augusto Farfus Robert Huff Chevrolet Kristian PoulsenReport
14 Gabriele Tarquini Andy Priaulx BMW Team RBM Darryl O'Young
15 Race of Germany Augusto Farfus Alain Menu Alain Menu Chevrolet Kristian PoulsenReport
16 Gabriele Tarquini Andy Priaulx BMW Team RBM Kristian Poulsen
17 Race of Spain Gabriele Tarquini Gabriele Tarquini Gabriele Tarquini SR-Sport Kristian PoulsenReport
18 Tiago Monteiro Tiago Monteiro SR-Sport Kristian Poulsen
19 Race of Japan Andy Priaulx Yvan Muller Robert Huff Chevrolet Yukinori TaniguchiReport
20 Michel Nykjær Colin Turkington Team Aviva-COFCO Darryl O'Young
21 Guia Race of Macau Robert Huff Robert Huff Robert Huff Chevrolet Kristian PoulsenReport
22 Robert Huffnowrap Norbert Michelisznowrap Zengő-Dension Team Sergio Hernández

Championship standings

Points system
 1st  2nd  3rd  4th  5th  6th  7th  8th  9th  10th 
251815121086421

Drivers' Championship

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 85%; text-align: center"
valign=middlePosvalign=middleDriverBRA
MAR
ITA
BEL
POR
UK
CZE
GER
ESP
JPN
MAC
valign=middle Pts 
1 Yvan Muller146241252215NC1233222224331
2 Gabriele Tarquini4116720†163143218Ret9135Ret42276
3 Robert Huff252Ret33521815261418†7361313276
4 Andy Priaulx5Ret811571Ret471515154DSQDSQNC7246
5 Tiago Monteiro117349743178Ret9641861RetRet38177
6 Alain Menu339Ret179345322NC3318811747Ret173
7 Augusto Farfus6610Ret249845684522188DSQDSQ65167
8 Tom Coronel8Ret53528106654Ret1065109148126136
9 Norbert Michelisz10971019†8677Ret97Ret1481111123751104
10 Colin Turkington1210326241Ret1397
11 Michel Nykjær12811781918Ret17Ret1597Ret749766Ret1166
12 Jordi Gené72138166DSQRetRet181010Ret1312104561
13 Fredy Barth9144561410188811Ret12811207RetRet13RetRet51
14 Kristian PoulsenRet15111111Ret23Ret819†96121015118Ret20
15 Darryl O'Young15161713Ret12201210921Ret177NC121417109RetRet15
16 Sergio Hernández131014Ret1216139917161211111013191511Ret1199
17 Franz Engstler14111212RetDNSRet161314141313Ret1315151413109105
18 Yukinori Taniguchi1714171891613Ret4
19 Stefano D'Aste1715Ret1111111613141318111091516RetDNSRet173
20 Mehdi Bennani181215914171419†Ret1219Ret141614RetRet16161910123
21 Harry Vaulkhard161316Ret101315Ret1511171415151
22 Leonel Pernía18†101
Pierre-Yves Corthals12150
Nobuteru Taniguchi121816Ret0
Michaël RossiRet120
Marc Carol13130
Andrey RomanovRetDNSRetDNS13Ret19171616161716171619Ret1515Ret0
Tom Boardman13Ret0
César Campaniço1416†0
Kevin ChenRet2017140
17140
Masataka Yanagida17140
Fabio Fabiani15181820†NC190
Philip Ma18150
Tim Coronel20150
Henry Ho1821†21†DNS0
Yoshihiro Ito19Ret0
Jo Merszei19Ret0
Masaki Kano20Ret0
Ismaïl SbaïRetDNS0
Carlos "Cacá" BuenoRetDNS0
André CoutoRetDNS0
DNSDNS0
Kuok Io KeongEXEX0
Chan Kin ManEXEX0
guest drivers ineligible for points
Robert Dahlgren12Ret85
valign=middlePosvalign=middleDriverBRA
MAR
ITA
BEL
POR
UK
CZE
GER
ESP
JPN
MAC
valign=middle Pts 
Bold – Pole
Italics – Fastest Lap
† — Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.

Manufacturers' Championship

The Manufacturers’ title was awarded to the highest scoring manufacturer, taking into account the results obtained by the two best placed cars per manufacturer at each race. All other cars of that same manufacturer were considered invisible as far as scoring points was concerned.[1]

valign=middlePosvalign=middleManufacturerBRA
MAR
ITA
BEL
POR
UK
CZE
GER
ESP
JPN
MAC
valign=middle Pts 
1 Chevrolet1322312222151313221213715
24613433453263437362324
2 SEAT Customers Technology4113521311432644113631641
7234664636547865435742
3 BMW5681147144314121544165580
610109259895625252128101087
valign=middlePosvalign=middleManufacturerBRA
MAR
ITA
BEL
POR
UK
CZE
GER
ESP
JPN
MAC
valign=middle Pts 

Yokohama Independents' Trophy

Eligibility for the award was determined by championship promoter KSO, taking into account the team's record, the driver's record and the car's technical characteristics.[9]

valign=middlePosvalign=middleDriverBRA
MAR
ITA
BEL
POR
UK
CZE
GER
ESP
JPN
MAC
valign=middle Pts 
1 Sergio Hernández131014Ret1216139917161211111013191511Ret119156
2 Franz Engstler14111212RetDNSRet161314141313Ret131515141310910127
3 Kristian PoulsenRet15111111Ret23Ret81996121015118Ret117
4 Darryl O'Young15161713Ret12201210921Ret177NC121417109RetRet104
5 Mehdi Bennani181215914171419Ret1219Ret141614RetRet161619101291
6 Stefano D'Aste1715Ret1111111613141318111091516RetDNSRet1788
7 Colin Turkington121032P73
8 Harry Vaulkhard161316Ret101315Ret15111714151561
9 Andrey RomanovRetDNSRetDNS13Ret19171616161716171619NC1515Ret35
10 Yukinori Taniguchi1714161891613Ret33
11 Marc Carol131316
12 Pierre-Yves Corthals121513
13 César Campaniço141612
14 Kevin ChenRet20171410
15 Tom Boardman13Ret8
16 Philip Ma18158
17 Nobuteru Taniguchi121816Ret8
18 Fabio Fabiani15181820NC197
19 Masataka Yanagida17146
20 Tim Coronel20154
Henry Ho182121DNS0
Yoshihiro Ito19Ret0
Jo Merszei19Ret0
Masaki Kano20Ret0
Ismaïl SbaïRetDNS0
Youssaf El MarnissiDNSDNS0
Kuok Io KeongEXEX0
Chan Kin ManEXEX0
valign=middlePosvalign=middleDriverBRA
MAR
ITA
BEL
POR
UK
CZE
GER
ESP
JPN
MAC
valign=middle Pts 
  1. – After taking pole position at Brno, Colin Turkington was stripped of his independent status. Another change made at Brno was the removal of extra points to the championship, if the driver finished in the overall top ten, after Turkington claimed 33 bonus points at Brands Hatch.[10] [11]

Yokohama Teams' Trophy

All teams were eligible to compete for the award, however points were only awarded to the two best placed cars of each team, providing they were driven byIndependent drivers.[9] Any other cars of that same team were considered to be invisible as far as scoring points was concerned.[9]

valign=middlePosvalign=middleTeamBRA
MAR
ITA
BEL
POR
UK
CZE
GER
ESP
JPN
MAC
valign=middle Pts 
1 Scuderia Proteam Motorsport1310141111111399131611109101319151117119248
1715RetRet121616131417181211111516RetDNS12181614
2 bamboo-engineering15131613101215121091714157171214179913Ret189
161617RetRet1320Ret151121Ret1715NC1417181016RetRet
3 Liqui Moly Team Engstler1411121213Ret1916131414131317131515141310910162
RetDNSRetDNSRetDNSRet171616201516Ret16171619191515Ret
4 Poulsen MotorsportRet15111111Ret23Ret81996121015118Ret110
5 Wiechers-Sport181215914171419Ret1219Ret141614RetRet161614101294
1719
6 eBay Motors12103233
7 SEAT Customers Technology131316
8 Exagon Engineering121512
9 Team Novadriver Total141612
10 SUNRED Engineering13Ret8
11 Jacob & Co Racing18158
Ho Chun Kei / Sports & You Asia182121DNS0
Maurer MotorsportRetDNS0
DNSDNS
Andy Racing TeamEXEX0
Chan Kin ManEXEX0
valign=middlePosvalign=middleTeamBRA
MAR
ITA
BEL
POR
UK
CZE
GER
ESP
JPN
MAC
valign=middle Pts 

WTCC Rookie Challenge

Any driver who had not previously completed a full season in the championship was eligible to score points in the Rookie Challenge.[12] Points were awarded on a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis to the first eight finishers in the class [12] in each race.

valign=middlePosvalign=middleDriverBRA
MAR
ITA
BEL
POR
UK
CZE
GER
ESP
JPN
MAC
valign=middle Pts 
1 Norbert Michelisz109810198677Ret97Ret1481111123751167
2 Michel Nykjær12811781918Ret17Ret1597Ret749766Ret11137
3 Fredy Barth9144561410188811Ret12811207RetRet13RetRet130
4 Darryl O'Young15161613Ret12201210921Ret177NC121417109RetRet94
5 Mehdi Bennani181215914171419Ret1219Ret141614RetRet161619101294
6 Harry Vaulkhard161316Ret101315Ret15111714151561
valign=middlePosvalign=middleDriverBRA
MAR
ITA
BEL
POR
UK
CZE
GER
ESP
JPN
MAC
valign=middle Pts 

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2010 Sporting regulations – FIA World Touring Car Championship. argent.fia.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 2010-03-11. 2010-06-20.
  2. News: WTCC adopts F1 points system. Steven. English. autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. 2010-02-27. 2010-02-27.
  3. News: Chevrolet win appeal in Paris. fiawtcc.com. World Touring Car Championship. 16 November 2010. 16 November 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20101123030446/http://fiawtcc.com/Read_News.asp?idnews=742. 23 November 2010 . live.
  4. Web site: Full Season Entry List. fiawtcc.com. World Touring Car Championship. 2010-02-19.
  5. News: WTCC to Zolder and Algarve in 2010. Steven. English. autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. 2009-06-24 . 2009-10-21.
  6. News: WTCC calendar announced . Jamie . O'Leary . autosport.com . Haymarket Publications. 2009-06-24 . 2009-10-21. https://web.archive.org/web/20091024115916/http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/79652. 24 October 2009 . live.
  7. News: Mexico's WTCC round cancelled . Steven . English . autosport.com . Haymarket Publications. 2010-03-08 . 2010-03-08.
  8. News: 2010 WTCC settles on 11 race meetings. fiawtcc.com. World Touring Car Championship. 2010-06-19. 2010-06-19.
  9. https://www.webcitation.org/5vLf8uMHx?url=http://www.fiawtcc.com/html/uploadedFiles/docs/2010_FIA_WTCC_Yokohama_Trophies.pdf Yokohama Independents' Trophy Regulations, www.fiawtcc.com, as archived at www.webcitation.org
  10. News: English. Steven. Turkington loses independent status. autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. 2010-08-01. 2010-08-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20100803001025/http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/85763. 3 August 2010 . live.
  11. News: Changes to the Independent Trophy. fiawtcc.com. World Touring Car Championship. 2010-08-01. 2010-08-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20110711000135/http://fiawtcc.com/Read_News.asp?idnews=639. 2011-07-11. dead.
  12. https://web.archive.org/web/20180706075947/https://www.autosport.com/wtcr/news/81889/rookie-class-added-to-wtcc The World Touring Car Championship has launched a new rookie class for the 2010 season, www.autosport.com, as archived at web.archive.org