2010 World Touring Car Championship

[Andreas Hultgren]

SEAT is going to pull out of the World Touring Car Championship ahead of the 2010 season according to the second largest newspaper in Spain, El Mundo. This is one step in a bigger cutback within SEAT.

"We need committed workers to maximize the profit of SEAT," said James Muir, chairman of SEAT.
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SEAT is going to lay off a total of 350 staff members. 50 of those work within SEAT Sport, which will be closed down.

Some of the SEAT Sport employees are going to stay with the Spanish manufacturer and be assigned to other areas.

The 350 staff members represent 3% of the total SEAT workforce of 13000.

Source | TouringCarTimes

 

[Kevin Ascher]

May the diesels never come back.

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

if that is true, it's gonna be one booooring season, five of the top contenders eliminated at one stroke? cannot believe it.

 

[Niels Pedersen]

Bah, WTCC is getting rediculous - they should lower the costs, and try to get more companies in - personally i would like to see alfa, opel and wv joining in, although seat and opel is owned by the wv guys.

 

[Andreas Hultgren]

Look at STCC. They had BMW, Seat, Chevrolet, VW, Opel, Mecedes, Alfa Romeo, Volvo, Audi, Honda and Peugeot last year. I do not get it why WTCC can't have that.

 

[Ryan Callan]

Five SEATS and two BMWS lost.....

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Since when is Opel owned by VW Chevy and Opel are connected.I am surprised by this news as i always expected BMW to leave. As BMW is a premium class brand i never understood why they were driving against B-brands from VW and GM.BMW should race Porsches, Audi's and other top class cars.Wouldnt it be a proper solution that WTCC becomes ETCC again and that most cars are privateers.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Look at STCC. They had BMW, Seat, Chevrolet, VW, Opel, Mecedes, Alfa Romeo, Volvo, Audi, Honda and Peugeot last year. I do not get it why WTCC can't have that.

Ask Marin Colak how expensive a season of WTCC is (i heard running a private car costs you around 2,500,000 for a full season, including everything). With the STCC you don't need to travel abroad, have lots of coverage on local TV and the series have a history on very challenging tracks and you can be competitive even with a 2 year old car.

 

[Trebor901]

So good that SEAT have gone, hopefully TDI never returns to the series because it has made it boring.

 

[Christophe Berton]

Wouldnt it be a proper solution that WTCC becomes ETCC again and that most cars are privateers.

In my eyes is this the best soloution. +- as the formule of ASO (GT series).
Lower the cost and dont allow factory teams will result in closer racing with a biger entryfield. Closer racing because all the teams start with the same elements and almost the same information.

 

[Rhys Gardiner]

So good that SEAT have gone, hopefully TDI never returns to the series because it has made it boring.

The diesels did make the racing rather boring, but if they were properly equalised with the petrol cars I wouldn't mind them being there. Remember that by racing diesels (and winning), these companies are refining technology that will transfer over to the diesels on the road.

 

[William Yunck]

So good that SEAT have gone, hopefully TDI never returns to the series because it has made it boring.

I don't think it is good, even though SEAT had an advantage. If car companies are struggling bad enough to stop racing, then that can't be a good thing. Racing costs a lot of money, so it isn't suprising that a company would slash that program in a time of need. If one has to do it, then eventually they all might need to do it, and then were will we be?

 

[Andreas Hultgren]

Danish Touring Car champion Michel Nykjaer is to move up to the World Touring Car Championship in a SUNRED Engineering SEAT Leon TDi.

The 30-year-old won the Danish title in both 2007 and 2009, and is also twice a winner of the European Touring Car Cup.
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He made his WTCC debut with a one-off outing at Oschersleben last year in a Chevrolet run by Perfection Racing.

Nykjaer has already tested for SUNRED and hopes to emulate team regular Tom Coronel by taking the independents' title.

"I had two test drives in the SEAT TDI Leon, and it is a fantastic car," said Nykjaer. "SUNRED and SEAT Sport have very close relations, and I have full confidence that they can help me to reach the very top of the tree.

"My goal is to win the private drivers' championship, the Independents' Trophy, in 2010, which I consider realistic despite the stiff competition."

SUNRED's 2009 drivers Coronel and Tom Boardman have yet to confirm their 2010 plans.

Source | autosport.com

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Huh so the TDI is now also sold to non-factory teams?

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

After seeing that Nykjaer signed for SUNRED i wonder what will happen to Tommy in 2010? Its very quiet with news about him.

 

[GAIAjohan]

I just hope Coronel will get a new ride, and hopefullt a TDi..

Oh, just a tip:
æ is done with Alt Gr + z.
Nykjær

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Yesterday we already announced that SEAT will pull out of the WTCC as a factory team during the 2010 season, however the Spanish car manufacturer announced today that SEAT Sport will give maximum support to the drivers who will be competing in the León TDI and the petrol-powered León FSI cars.
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Jaime Puig, SEAT Sport Director explained to fiawtcc.com: “After achieving all possible successes in the WTCC, we are now going to focus all our efforts on customer sports in different championships, such as the WTCC. We are always eager to win when a SEAT is on the track and to do so, SEAT Sport will provide all of our customers with the necessary technical support.”

Dominik Hoberg, SEAT Communications Director, added: “SEAT will continue with a noteworthy presence in motor sports in 2010, with a team of highly qualified professionals of which we are particularly proud of, but the company will have a different approach as regards to its motor sports activity. The presence of our cars in different championships and countries will continue to be a major value to strengthen our brand image.”

 

[Professor]

I am in awe of what Zanardi has done since that tragic day where he lost his legs. I too was paralyzed from the waist down at the age of 19 in a car accident, but not racing, although I was going way too fast.
I have enjoyed motor racing sims almost all my computer life from way back in the early 80's. I joined a offline F1 league years ago but left racing for years and my desire for racing only perked up when I bought the GTR2/GTL bundle and then came rFactor and eventually GTR evo and Race07. I have a Momo wheel even though I have to drive with an automatic gearbox which makes me a lot slower using the digital paddles for Acceleration/Braking but I am still game to compete. I race mostly over at Gamers-Crib in GTL were I founded the Muscle Car league.
Then came iRacing and I had to admit I dislike that format of racing for one reason only. Not because it is way to expensive, but because it does not cater for the disabled driver. Not fun knowing that racing sims were made without thinking about the disabled. The unfortunate reality is that more and more people are becoming disabled for various reasons and they can compete in most sims, but for some reason iRacing didn't look at how they could make it available for disabled drivers. Those with lots of money that can afford to have a custom wheel built so they can drive manually, are the only ones that can drive on iRacing.
But, that put aside, I enjoy racing GTR2, GTL and more recently in GTR Evo/Race07 -- Only just got online with GTR Evo and really enjoyed it and if there was a racing league that catered for people like myself with a disability, I would be very interested. As my name suggests, I am a BIG Alain Prost fan

Prof aka Greg

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Thanks for your honest post Greg! I agree that some changes on the wheels should be made for disabled persons. Maybe we should open a thread for it in the in the virtual motorsport forums or hardware forums?

What would you like to see changed by manufactures? If they would offer analogue paddles could those be used for proper throtle and braking simulation? More or less the same as Alex Z was driving his BMW the last years.

 

[Professor]

Thanks for your honest post Greg! I agree that some changes on the wheels should be made for disabled persons. Maybe we should open a thread for it in the in the virtual motorsport forums or hardware forums?

What would you like to see changed by manufactures? If they would offer analogue paddles could those be used for proper throtle and braking simulation? More or less the same as Alex Z was driving his BMW the last years.

The last wheel I bought was a Thrustmaster which had analogue paddles and I thought that would be the answer to all my problems, but unfortunately the analogue paddles were situated on the bottom which made it extremely hard to use as my hands were gripping the wheel too low on the wheel so when turning on really sharp bends, my hands basically slipped off the paddles. The higher paddles were digital so if they only could be swapped, it might and I stress might have worked for me. I find having to drive with digital paddles I am at least 2 seconds at best, slower than others in the leagues I driver in. It frustrates me at times but in a whole, I just love to race and so if I qualify last and finish last, so what, as long as I enjoyed the race is what matters most

Greg