Jean-Baptiste Ley, WTCR director: “No, the WTCR is not dying”

On the sidelines of the press conference organized at the Anneau du Rhin following the departure of Lynk & Co, Jean-Baptiste Ley, the director of the WTCR, returned to AUTOhebdo on the rumors of a potential end of the World Cup at the end of the season. 

Jean-Baptiste Ley, we are at the Rhine ring, we will have twelve cars on the gallery. I imagine it's not at all what you could have imagined?

So no, obviously, we didn't imagine this scenario. Especially since two of the five airline pilots, Lynk & Co, Yan and Yvan are local children. So it’s true that this last-second decision before starting is very surprising. It was unexpected in the sense that the discussions between Cyan the FIA ​​and WSC were very constructive. And that for up to ten days. A solution was proposed ten days ago which was well accepted and well received by Cyan. So we were obviously far from imagining this decision which I respect anyway because we always respect decisions. Obviously, it's a surprise, which hardly impacts the weekend, especially for the fans who came to see their local star. However, we certainly have twelve cars, but twelve of the twelve best Touring Car drivers in the world. I have no doubt that this weekend's show is going to be incredible. The feedback we got from the drivers on the track and the rest is rather positive now, after having done the two test sessions on the previous days, and those of this morning. So yes, I have no doubt that it will still be a very good event this weekend.

Is there reason to be worried about the future of the World Touring Car Cup or not? 

So yes, indeed, the 2022 season was an extremely difficult season. It is still not finished. I think we have accumulated a whole series of difficulties that we were far from imagining after emerging from a Covid crisis, which still remains since it forced us to have to cancel our Asian campaign and a crisis in Ukraine which made us lose Sochi which had been a great closing event for the 2021 season and tire problems which have been added this season. So yes, indeed, we have had a lot of difficulties this season. Despite everything, we were already able to react anyway, from a calendar point of view, with these cancellations for which we were completely independent. We compensated with this coming this weekend at the Anneau du Rhin with the double header race at Vallelunga. We did everything to maintain a viable and attractive season throughout the season.

We now have, already submitted to the FIA, the revised end-of-season calendar to replace the Asian campaign, with new arrivals which will be a very very good surprise, I am sure. This proposal has already been approved by the Touring Car Commission in recent days. It is submitted to the World Council on Monday. So we are planning a publication next week. So that already is already a real message about the fact that despite the difficulties, the 2022 season is still here and it will end on a high note. We have also already started discussions to be able to have more cars on the grid and compensate for the late start of Lynk & Co. So there you have it, our objective is to finish this season on its two incredible rounds with a number of cars enough to ensure a spectacle worthy of WTCR level. And so no, the WTCR is not dying. The WTCR has gone through difficulties which will strengthen it and we already have a very clear vision of what we are going to do in 2023 with a calendar worthy of a World Cup, a territory covering the majority of the planet with different continents, some small changes to the regulations and some changes to the structure of the championship to facilitate access to the WTCR for new teams to maximize the grid. All this is clear in my head, it is already shared with the FIA, with WSC. We are all in unison on this and all convinced that it will bring a lot to the WTCR in 2023 which will in any case get through this crisis and return to the level it deserves.

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You were talking about new potential competitors. We saw recently that Toyota built a car, MG also presented a new car. I imagine that these are manufacturers, teams that you will try to attract to join you.

So we are obviously already in discussions with certain new teams, certain new manufacturers. The key is to share the plans for 23 as soon as possible, so as to completely inhibit any doubts that some might have about the future of the WTCR. So obviously discussions are taking place at the moment and our interest is obviously to make the championship as attractive as possible for drivers, teams and managers.

As you said at the press conference, you respect the decision even if you don't completely agree with it, in any case, you feel a little bit held hostage by this decision. Is the idea also to bring them back with you next year?

Yes, in any case, we cannot neglect the involvement of Lynk & Co and Cyan during the last years. They participated in the development of the championship and so it is true that it is very unfortunate to learn of these withdrawals at the last minute. In this way, it is subject to discussion. And as I said earlier, no one knows exactly what Lynk & Co's plans will be in the near future. But, from our point of view, it still deserves to go further in the discussions in order to obtain an overall development which could satisfy the return of Lynk & Co.

Will the hybrid that should arrive next season be a nice standard bearer to attract a lot of people?

Obviously, as promoter of the championship, it is difficult for me to answer in the place of the sporting and technical regulator that are WSC and FIA. So obviously, we will support the decision that will be taken on the technical evolution of the championship and the potential switch to hybrid. But obviously, if the parties agree and this is the direction that is given for the technical evolution of the championship. Obviously, among promoters, we can only positively accept this type of development.

Comments collected by Fabien Gérard.

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