2021 World Touring Car Cup Explained

The 2021 World Touring Car Cup was the fourth season of the World Touring Car Cup and 17th overall of the series, which dates back to the 2005 World Touring Car Championship. The season began on 5 June at the Nürburgring and ended on 28 November in Sochi.^[1]

Teams and drivers

Team Car No. Drivers Class Rounds Ref. BRC Hyundai N Lukoil Squadra Corse Hyundai Elantra N TCR 3 nowrap Gabriele Tarquini All ^[2] 5 Norbert Michelisz All Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team Hyundai Elantra N TCR 8 Luca Engstler J All 69 Jean-Karl Vernay All ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport Honda Civic Type R TCR (FK8) 9 Attila Tassi All ^[3] 18 Tiago Monteiro All ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport 29 Néstor Girolami All 86 Esteban Guerrieri All Cyan Performance Lynk & Co Lynk & Co 03 TCR 11 Thed Björk All ^[4] 12 Santiago Urrutia All Cyan Racing Lynk & Co 68 Yann Ehrlacher All 100 Yvan Muller All Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Audi RS 3 LMS TCR (2021) 16 Gilles Magnus J T All ^[5] 22 Frédéric Vervisch All Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport 17 nowrap Nathanaël Berthon All ^[6] 32 Tom Coronel T All ^[7] Target srl Hyundai Elantra N TCR 19 Andreas Bäckman T 1–4 ^[8] 26 Jessica Bäckman J T 1–4 82 Nicola Baldan T 7 ^[9] Zengő Motorsport Drivers’ Academy Cupra León Competición TCR 28 Jordi Gené All 55 Bence Boldizs J T All ^[10] Zengő Motorsport Services KFT 79 Robert Huff All ^[11] 96 Mikel Azcona All ^[12] Wildcard entries Rosneft Lada Sport Lada Vesta Sport TCR 20 Kirill Ladygin 8 ^[13] 30 Mikhail Mityaev 8 Target srl Hyundai Elantra N TCR 82 Nicola Baldan 4 ^[14] Full In Race Academy nowrap Cupra León Competición TCR 222 Petr Fulín 5 ^[15]

valign=top

Icon Class J Eligible for FIA WTCR Junior Driver Title T Eligible for WTCR Trophy

Summary

JAS Motorsport and Honda Racing retained their 2020 drivers – Attila Tassi, Tiago Monteiro, Néstor Girolami and Esteban Guerrieri – for the 2021 season. On 15 January it was announced that all four drivers would continue to compete for Münnich Motorsport and announced that Attila Tassi and Tiago Monteiro would join the ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport with Néstor Girolami and Esteban Guerrieri remaining at the ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport.

Comtoyou Racing switched from the running Audi RS 3 LMS TCR to the all-new facelifted Audi RS 3 LMS TCR (2021). Nathanaël Berthon, Gilles Magnus and Tom Coronel remained with Comtoyou Racing and Frédéric Vervisch returned to the series and the team after having last raced in 2019.^{[6] [5] [7]}

Cyan Racing committed to run four Lynk & Co 03 TCR cars for the season, Yann Ehrlacher and Yvan Muller were confirmed as drivers for Cyan Racing Lynk & Co and announced that Thed Björk and Santiago Urrutia were confirmed as drivers for Cyan Performance Lynk & Co.

Hyundai switched from the running Hyundai i30 N TCR to the all-new Hyundai Elantra N TCR. BRC Racing Team entered under the BRC Hyundai N Lukoil Squadra Corse banner with two former champions in Norbert Michelisz and Gabriele Tarquini, while Engstler Motorsport entered the remaining two Hyundai cars under the Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team name for Luca Engstler and Jean-Karl Vernay, the latter having switched from Team Mulsanne to replace Nicky Catsburg. Target Competition joined full-time from the TCR Europe with Swedish siblings Andreas and Jessica Bäckman, who became the first woman to race in the championship. 2017 TCR Italy Touring Car Championship winner Nicola Baldan is also set to participate at selected rounds as a guest driver.^{[2] [8] [14]}

The Zengő Motorsport structure continued at the WTCR and expanded to four Cupra León Competición TCR cars, running under two distinct banners. Bence Boldizs and Mikel Azcona remained with the team, with series returnees Jordi Gené, who had last taken part in the series in 2010, when it was called the World Touring Car Championship, and 2012 World Touring Car Championship & 2020 STCC TCR Scandinavia Touring Car Championship winner Robert Huff, who came back after a year's absence, joining them at Zengő Motorsport Drivers’ Academy and Zengő Motorsport Services KFT respectively.^{[12] [10] [11]}

Calendar

The preliminary race calendar was published by the championship management on 13 November 2020.^[16] A change from previous years is that in 2021, for cost-cutting reasons, two races will be held on a weekend instead of three, and the series will return to the Asian continent after a year of omission.^[17] On 22 January 2021, the calendar was updated, postponing the Race of Hungary to 21–22 August and replacing the Race of Slovakia with the Race of Italy.^[18] On 10 May 2021, it was announced that the Race of Portugal would be held at the Circuito do Estoril instead of the Circuito Internacional de Vila Real.^[19] On 19 August 2021, three new rounds were announced as replacements for the races in the Far East.^[20]

Round	Race	Race Name	Circuit	Date	Supporting
1	1	Race of Germany	Nürburgring Nordschleife	3–5 June	Nürburgring 24 Hours
	2
2	3	Race of Portugal	Circuito do Estoril	26–27 June
	4
3	5	Race of Spain	Ciudad del Motor de Aragón	10–11 July	ETCR Championship
	6
4	7	Race of Hungary	Hungaroring	21–22 August
	8
5	9	Race of Czech Republic	Autodrom Most	9–10 October	FIM EWC
	10
6	11	Race of France	Circuit Pau-Arnos	16–17 October	ETCR Championship
	12
7	13	Race of Italy	Adria International Raceway	6–7 November
	14
8	15	Race of Russia	Sochi Autodrom	27–28 November
	16

Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Race name	Circuit	Original date
Race of Slovakia	Automotodróm Slovakia Ring	22–23 May
Race of Portugal	Circuito Internacional de Vila Real	26–27 June
Race of Korea	Inje Speedium	16–17 October
Race of China	Ningbo International Circuit	6–7 November
Race of Macau	Guia Circuit, Macau	20–21 November

Results

Race	Race Name	Pole Position	Fastest lap	Winning driver	Winning team	Junior winner	nowrap	WTCR Trophy winner	Report
1	Race of Germany		Mikel Azcona	Tiago Monteiro	ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport		Tom Coronel	Report
2		Néstor Girolami				Luca Engstler
3	Race of Portugal		Yann Ehrlacher	Yann Ehrlacher	Cyan Racing Lynk & Co	Gilles Magnus	Gilles Magnus	Report
4			Attila Tassi	Attila Tassi	ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport	Gilles Magnus	Gilles Magnus
5	Race of Spain		Gabriele Tarquini	Gabriele Tarquini	BRC Hyundai N Lukoil Squadra Corse	Gilles Magnus	Tom Coronel	Report
6					Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Gilles Magnus	Gilles Magnus
7	Race of Hungary		Frédéric Vervisch	Gilles Magnus	Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Gilles Magnus	Gilles Magnus	Report
8		Robert Huff	Frédéric Vervisch	Santiago Urrutia	Cyan Performance Lynk & Co	Gilles Magnus	Gilles Magnus
9			Néstor Girolami	Néstor Girolami	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Luca Engstler	Tom Coronel	Report
10		Mikel Azcona	Mikel Azcona		BRC Hyundai N Lukoil Squadra Corse	Luca Engstler	Gilles Magnus
11	Race of France		Frédéric Vervisch	Frédéric Vervisch	Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Luca Engstler	Tom Coronel	Report
12		Yvan Muller	Jean-Karl Vernay	Jean-Karl Vernay	Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team	Luca Engstler	Tom Coronel
13	Race of Italy		Tom Coronel	Santiago Urrutia	Cyan Performance Lynk & Co	Gilles Magnus	Tom Coronel	Report
14		Yann Ehrlacher		Yann Ehrlacher	Cyan Racing Lynk & Co	Gilles Magnus	Gilles Magnus
15	Race of Russia		Robert Huff	Mikel Azcona	Zengő Motorsport Services KFT	Gilles Magnus	Gilles Magnus	Report
16		Yvan Muller	Robert Huff	Robert Huff	Zengő Motorsport Services KFT	Luca Engstler	Tom Coronel

Championship standings

Scoring system

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th	13th	14th	15th
Qualifying 1 & 3	5	4	3	2	1	colspan=10
Race	25	20	16	13	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1

Scoring system for WTCR Trophy

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	FL
Qualifying	1	colspan=5
Race	10	8	5	3	1	1

Drivers' championship

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 85%; text-align: center" valign=middle valign=middle Driver GER PRT ESP HUN CZE FRA ITA RUS valign=middle    1 Yann Ehrlacher 8 10 1 6 5^1 7 3 4 3 4^3 8^1 5^5 10^1 1^1 5 6^5 223 2 Frédéric Vervisch 15 Ret 13 11 8^4 1^1 4 2 13 8 1 4 6 2^2 6 2 195 3 Jean-Karl Vernay 10 1^2 Ret 2^4 9 4^5 14 13 6^5 14^5 6^3 1^2 14 19 2 5 177 4 Yvan Muller 2 7 2 9 11 10 15 6 4 6 Ret 2^1 5 4^5 8^1 Ret^1 169 5 Santiago Urrutia 3 5^5 3 5 12 Ret 7^3 1^2 11 Ret 15 3^4 1^2 13 9^3 Ret 167 6 Esteban Guerrieri 4 12^3 5^1 8^1 15 13 8 8 2^1 3^4 4^5 7 3 6 Ret DNS 164 7 Mikel Azcona 16 Ret 10 Ret 2 11 2^1 3 7^2 2^1 13 14 11 11 1^2 Ret^2 158 8 Norbert Michelisz 5 Ret Ret^5 3 7^5 NC^4 6 14^3 15 1^2 7^2 6^3 4^5 7 12 8 146 9 Thed Björk 13 Ret 6 7 10 2^2 5 7^5 5 15 2 9 12^4 8^3 10 11 141 10 Gilles Magnus 14 9 8 14 6 3^3 1^2 9 NC 9 14 17 7^3 3^4 3 Ret 139 11 Néstor Girolami 9 3^1 Ret^3 13^3 18 12 9^5 5^4 1^4 16 5 Ret 8 Ret 11 7^3 131 12 Gabriele Tarquini 6 Ret Ret 4 1 6 12 Ret 10 Ret 3^4 8 9 5 14 Ret 114 13 Nathanaël Berthon 11 6 11 12 4^3 5 Ret 12 Ret^3 5 11 10 21 14 4^5 3^4 114 14 Attila Tassi 12 4 7^2 1^5 17 15 13 10 Ret Ret 12 16 16 12 7 4 96 15 Luca Engstler 17 2^4 12 Ret 13 8 11 15 12 7 9 11 15 10 13 10 86 16 Tom Coronel 7 11 17 Ret 3^2 Ret 21 16 9 10 10 13 2 Ret 16 9 83 17 Tiago Monteiro 1 8 4^4 18^2 20 14 10 11 16 12 Ret 12 17 15 WD WD 75 18 Robert Huff Ret Ret 9 10 Ret 9 Ret^4 18^1 8 Ret NC 15 13 9 Ret^4 1 73 19 Jordi Gené 18 Ret 14 15 14 Ret 16 17 WD WD Ret 18 20 17 15 12 10 20 Bence Boldizs 19 13 18 19 DSQ 16 17 19 14 13 16 19 18 16 17 Ret 9 21 Jessica Bäckman 21 14 16 16 19 17 20 21 2 22 Andreas Bäckman 20 Ret 15 17 16 Ret 19 Ret 1 23 Nicola Baldan 18 20 19 18 0 align=center colspan=33 Wildcard entries ineligible for points — Petr Fulín Ret 11 — — Mikhail Mityaev 19 13 — — Kirill Ladygin 18 14 — valign=middle valign=middle Driver GER PRT ESP HUN CZE FRA ITA RUS valign=middle

Teams' championship

Team GER PRT ESP HUN CZE FRA ITA RUS 1 Cyan Racing Lynk & Co 68 8 10 1 6 5^1 7 3 4 3 4^3 8^1 5^5 10^1 1^1 5 6^5 392 100 2 7 2 9 11 10 15 6 4 6 Ret 2^1 5 4^5 8^1 Ret^1 2 Comtoyou Team Audi Sport 16 14 9 8 14 6 3^3 1^2 9 NC 9 14 17 7^3 3^4 3 Ret 334 22 15 Ret 13 11 8^4 1^1 4 2 13 8 1 4 6 2^2 6 2 3 Cyan Performance Lynk & Co 11 13 Ret 6 7 10 2^2 5 7^5 5 15 2 9 12^4 8^3 10 11 308 12 3 5^5 3 5 12 Ret 7^3 1^2 11 Ret 15 3^4 1^2 13 9^3 Ret 4 ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport 29 9 3^1 Ret^3 13^3 18 12 9^5 5^4 1^4 16 5 Ret 8 Ret 11 7^3 295 86 4 12^3 5^1 8^1 15 13 8 8 2^1 3^4 4^5 7 3 6 Ret DNS 5 Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team 8 17 2^4 12 Ret 13 8 11 15 12 7 9 11 15 10 13 10 263 69 10 1^2 Ret 2^4 9 4^5 14 13 6^5 14^5 6^3 1^2 14 19 2 5 6 BRC Hyundai N Lukoil Squadra Corse 3 6 Ret Ret 4 1 6 12 Ret 10 Ret 3^4 8 9 5 14 Ret 260 5 5 Ret Ret^5 3 7^5 NC^4 6 14^3 15 1^2 7^2 6^3 4^5 7 12 8 7 Zengő Motorsport Services KFT 79 Ret Ret 9 10 Ret 9 Ret^4 18^1 8 Ret NC 15 13 9 Ret^4 1 231 96 16 Ret 10 Ret 2 11 2^1 3 7^2 2^1 13 14 11 11 1^2 Ret^2 8 Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport 17 11 6 11 12 4^3 5 Ret 12 Ret^3 5 11 10 21 14 4^5 3^4 197 32 7 11 17 Ret 3^2 Ret 21 16 9 10 10 13 2 Ret 16 9 9 ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport 9 12 4 7^2 1^5 17 15 13 10 Ret Ret 12 16 16 12 7 4 171 18 1 8 4^4 18^2 20 14 10 11 16 12 Ret 12 17 15 WD WD 10 Zengő Motorsport Drivers’ Academy 28 18 Ret 14 15 14 Ret 16 17 WD WD Ret 18 20 17 15 12 19 55 19 13 18 19 DSQ 16 17 19 14 13 16 19 18 16 17 Ret 11 Target srl 19 20 Ret 15 17 16 Ret 19 Ret 3 26 21 14 16 16 19 17 20 21 82 19 18 Wildcard entries ineligible for points — Full In Race Academy 222 Ret 11 — — Rosneft Lada Sport 20 18 14 — 30 19 13 — Target srl 82 18 20 — valign=middle valign=middle Team valign=middle GER PRT ESP HUN CZE FRA ITA RUS valign=middle

Juniors' championship

	Driver	GER		PRT		ESP		HUN		CZE		FRA		ITA		RUS
1	Luca Engstler	17	2^1	12^1	Ret	13^1	8	11^2	15	12^1	7	9^1	11	15^2	10	13^2	10	372
2	Gilles Magnus	14	9^2	8^2	14	6^2	3^1	1^1	9	NC	9	14	17	7^1	3^1	3^1	Ret	371
3	Bence Boldizs	19	13^4	18^4	19	DSQ^3	16	17^4	19	14^2	13	16^2	19	18^3	16	17^3	Ret	250
4	align=left nowrap	Jessica Bäckman	21	14^3	16^3	16	19^4	17	20^3	21									131
	Driver	GER		PRT		ESP		HUN		CZE		FRA		ITA		RUS

WTCR Trophy

Eligible for drivers racing without manufacturer support.^[21]

	Driver	GER		PRT		ESP		HUN		CZE		FRA		ITA		RUS
1	Gilles Magnus	14	9	8	14^1	6	3^1	1	9^1	NC	9	14	17	7	3^1	3	Ret^1	143
2	Tom Coronel	7	11^1	17	Ret	3	Ret	21	16	9	10^1	10	13^1	2	Ret	16	9	114
3	Bence Boldizs	19	13	18	19	DSQ	16	17	19	14	13	16	19	18	16	17	Ret	77
4	Jessica Bäckman	21	14	16	16	19	17	20	21									32
5	align=left nowrap	Andreas Bäckman	20	Ret	15	17	16	Ret	19	Ret									27
6	Nicola Baldan													19	18			8
	Driver	GER		PRT		ESP		HUN		CZE		FRA		ITA		RUS

Notes and References

1. Web site: THREE NEW TRACKS IN STORE FOR WIDE-OPEN WTCR TITLE CHASE . FIA WTCR . 2021-08-19 . 2021-08-19 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210819104156/https://www.fiawtcr.com/three-new-tracks-in-store-for-wide-open-wtcr-title-chase/ . dead .
2. Web site: Hyundai confirms Elantra switch for 2021 WTCR season. 12 April 2021. TouringCarTimes. TouringCarTimes. 12 April 2021.
3. Web site: Honda sticks with unchanged quartet for 2021. 15 January 2021. TouringCarTimes. TouringCarTimes. 15 January 2021.
4. Web site: Lynk & Co Cyan Racing confirms unchanged WTCR line-up. 18 March 2021. TouringCarTimes. TouringCarTimes. 18 March 2021.
5. Web site: Gilles Magnus completes Comtoyou quartet. 15 April 2021. TouringCarTimes. TouringCarTimes. 15 April 2021.
6. Web site: Comtoyou Racing confirms four new Audis for 2021 WTCR season. live. 19 February 2021. TouringCarTimes. TouringCarTimes. https://web.archive.org/web/20210222152011/https://www.touringcartimes.com/2021/02/19/comtoyou-racing-confirms-four-new-audis-2021-wtcr-season/ . 2021-02-22 .
7. Web site: Tom Coronel returns with Comtoyou Racing. 23 March 2021. TouringCarTimes. TouringCarTimes. 23 March 2021.
8. Web site: Siblings Andreas and Jessica Bäckman joins 2021 WTCR grid. 19 April 2021. TouringCarTimes. 19 April 2021.
9. Web site: Rodgers. Richard. 2021-11-01. Baldan on Target for WTCR return at home track. 2021-11-02. FIA WTCR World Touring Car Cup. en-US.
10. Web site: Bence Boldizs retains Zengő Motorsport drive. 30 April 2021. TouringCarTimes. TouringCarTimes. 30 April 2021.
11. Web site: Rob Huff returns to the WTCR with Zengő Motorsport. 14 May 2021. TouringCarTimes. TouringCarTimes. 14 May 2021.
12. Web site: Jordi Gené and Mikel Azcona confirmed in Cupra line-up. 19 April 2021. TouringCarTimes. TouringCarTimes. 19 April 2021.
13. Web site: Lada Sport Rosneft to make WTCR debut on home soil. 27 October 2021. TouringCarTimes. TouringCarTimes. 27 October 2021.
14. Web site: Nicola Baldan confirmed for WTCR and TCR Italy programme. 21 April 2021. TouringCarTimes. TouringCarTimes. 21 April 2021.
15. Web site: 2021-09-30. Petr Fulín to contest Czech WTCR event. 2021-09-30. TouringCarTimes. en-US.
16. Web site: A Hungaroringen rajtolhat a 2021-es Túraautó Világkupa szezon Eurosport . eurosport.hosszabbitas.hu . 2020-11-13 . 2020-11-25 . hu . Lanti.
17. Web site: Rövidebb lesz a 2021-es WTCR-naptár a költségcsökkentés jegyében Eurosport . eurosport.hosszabbitas.hu . 2020-09-23 . 2020-11-25 . hu . Lanti.
18. Web site: WORLD'S MOST CHALLENGING TRACK OPENS 2021 WTCR SEASON FOLLOWING CALENDAR CHANGES. fiawtcr.com. 2021-01-22. 2021-03-11. 2021-01-22. https://web.archive.org/web/20210122111212/https://www.fiawtcr.com/worlds-most-challenging-track-opens-2021-wtcr-season-following-calendar-changes/. dead.
19. Web site: WTCR RACE OF PORTUGAL SWITCHES TO ESTORIL FOR 2021, NEW THREE-YEAR AGREEMENT WITH VILA REAL REACHED. fiawtcr.com . 2021-05-10. 2021-05-11.
20. Web site: THREE NEW TRACKS IN STORE FOR WIDE-OPEN WTCR TITLE CHASE. fiawtcr.com. 2021-08-19. 2021-08-19. 2021-08-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20210819104156/https://www.fiawtcr.com/three-new-tracks-in-store-for-wide-open-wtcr-title-chase/. dead.
21. Web site: Rodgers. Richard. WTCR TROPHY. 2020-09-22. FIA WTCR World Touring Car Cup. en-US.