Macau will not be the final in 2019, more points awarded

In accordance with what we wrote to you after the final round of the 2018 World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) season, a significant change has been made to the 2019 calendar for the competition organized by Eurosport Events. The Macau circuit will no longer host the final, and leaves this honor to the Sepang circuit in Malaysia (date to be confirmed).

This modification comes from the teams present during the inaugural season. A large majority of them wanted to return to Macau in 2019, “but not necessarily as the last test” according to François Ribeiro, boss of Eurosport Events. Sepang also allows the WTCR to keep a “round” number of 30 races divided into 10 rounds like in 2018.

Indeed, the meeting in Wuhan (China) was ousted due to organizational problems with a major Chinese event a few days apart within the perimeter of the circuit.

Another new feature revealed exclusively by CARhebdo,The points system is redesigned and extended to the first 15 in each race, i.e. five additional places. Compared to 2018, the three races of the weekend will offer the same points rate, which greatly simplifies the Sunday evening calculation! In addition, the two qualifying sessions will bring in a few units in the Drivers' ranking (compared to just one previously).

Finally, the maximum number of competitors entered per year is increased to 32 cars (with a limit of two cars per team), compared to 26 drivers in 2018.

Qualification points grid: 5-4-3-2-1
Race points grid: 25-20-16-13-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1.

WTCR 2019 Calendar:
April 5-7: Marrakech (Morocco)
April 26-28: Hungaroring (Hungary)
May 10-12: Slovakia Ring (Slovakia)
May 17-19: Zandvoort (Netherlands)
June 20-22: Nürburgring Nordschleife (Germany)
July 5-7: Vila Real (Portugal)
September 13-15: Ningbo (China)
October 25-27: Suzuka (Japan)
November 14-17: Macau
Sepang (Malaysia, dates to be confirmed)