The 2008 World Touring Car Championship was a motor racing competition for Super 2000 Cars and Diesel 2000 Cars. Organised by the FIA, it comprised the FIA World Touring Car Championship for Drivers and the FIA World Touring Car Championship for Manufacturers.2008 WTCC Regulations Retrieved from www.wtcc.com on 7 September 2008 The championship began on 2 March, and ended on 16 November, after twenty-four races. It was the fifth World Touring Car Championship and the fourth since its 2005 return.
Frenchman Yvan Muller won the Drivers title by 26 points from SEAT team-mate Gabriele Tarquini, with Chevrolet's Robert Huff finishing third just a point behind Tarquini. The Manufacturers Championship was awarded to SEAT.
Teams and drivers
The full season entry list.
TeamCarNo.DriversRounds Manufacturer Teams BMW Team UK BMW 320si 1 Andy Priaulx All BMW Team Germany 2 Jörg Müller All 3 Augusto Farfus Jr. All BMW Team Italy-Spain 4 Alessandro Zanardi All 5 Félix Porteiro All Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Lacetti 6 Nicola Larini All 7 Robert Huff All 8 Alain Menu All SEAT Sport SEAT León TDI 9 Jordi Gené All 10 Rickard Rydell All 11 Gabriele Tarquini All 12 Yvan Muller All 18 Tiago Monteiro All SEAT León 21 José Manuel Pérez-Aicart 3 N.technology Honda Accord Euro R 15 James Thompson 3–12 SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 20 Tom Coronel All Yokohama Trophy Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport BMW 320si 13 Ibrahim Okyay All 62 Aytaç Biter 7–8 Wiechers-Sport BMW 320si 16 Olivier Tielemans 1–3, 5–6, 8 33 Laurent Cazenave 4 49 Duncan Huisman 8 60 Kristian Poulsen 10 Poulsen Motorsport BMW 320si 6–8 SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 22 Michal Matejovský 5 32 Oscar Nogués 4 75 Norbert Michelisz 11 76 Lourenço Beirão da Veiga 7 77 Tom Boardman 6 78 Marin Čolak 8 79 Duarte Félix da Costa 10 Exagon Engineering SEAT León 23 Pierre-Yves Corthals 1–10 Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320si 26 Stefano D'Aste 1–11 31 Sergio Hernández All 45 Georgi Tanev 12 Petrol GT Racing Team BMW 320si 8–10 Russian Bears Motorsport Lada 110 2.0 27 Kirill Ladygin 9–12 28 Viktor Shapovalov 3–12 29 Jaap van Lagen 3–12 Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320si 42 Franz Engstler All 43 Andrey Romanov 1–6, 8–12 Golden Motors Honda Accord Euro R 54 Aleksandr Lvov 3, 5 55 Andrey Smetsky 3, 5 Asian Wild Card Entries Wiechers-Sport BMW 320si 17 Takayuki Aoki 10–12 88 Matthew Marsh 11–12 N.technology Honda Accord Euro R 66 André Couto 12 72 Yukinori Taniguchi 10–11 Thunder Asia Racing BMW 320si 69 Melvin Choo 11–12 Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Lacetti 80 Manabu Orido 10–12 Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320i 81 Masaki Kano 11–12 Volvo Olsbergs Green Racing Volvo C30 63 Robert Dahlgren 7
Note: Macau-based RPM Racing Team had planned to race one Toyota Altezza and one Honda Civic Type-R for Macanese drivers Lei Kit Meng and Jo Rosa Merszei in the final races in Macau. Although car numbers were allocated to them (#64 for Meng (Toyota Altezza) and #65 for Merszei (Honda Civic)), the FIA Touring Car Bureau rejected the entries because neither of these cars had been homologated by the FIA.
Driver changes Driver changes from the 2007 World Touring Car Championship were:
Changed Teams Olivier Tielemans: N-Technology → Wiechers-Sport Tom Coronel: GR Asia → SUNRED Engineering Stefano D'Aste: Wiechers-Sport → Scuderia Proteam Motorsport
Entering WTCC including those who entered one-off rounds in 2007 Rickard Rydell: No full-time drive → SEAT Sport Ibrahim Okyay: Turkish Touring Car Championship → Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport Viktor Shapovalov: Dutch Supercar Challenge → Russian Bears Motorsport Jaap van Lagen: Porsche Supercup → Russian Bears Motorsport Franz Engstler: Asian Touring Car Series → Liqui Moly Team Engstler Andrey Romanov: Asian Touring Car Series → Liqui Moly Team Engstler
Leaving WTCC Michel Jourdain Jr.: SEAT Sport → No full-time drive Roberto Colciago: SEAT Sport Italia → Italian Endurance Touring Championship Emmet O'Brien: GR Asia → Danish Touring Car Championship Maurizio Ceresoli: GR Asia → No full-time drive Luca Rangoni: Scuderia Proteam Motorsport → Porsche Carrera Cup Italy Miguel Freitas: Racing for Belgium → SEAT León Supercopa Spain
Calendar A provisional calendar was released in November, 2007.
Sweden was to be included in the calendar for 21 September but the FIA confirmed on 3 May 2008 that the Swedish round at the Scandinavian Raceway was replaced by an Italy round at the revamped Imola Circuit.
Round Race Name Track Date 1 R1 HSBC Race of Brazil Autódromo Internacional de Curitiba 2 March R2 2 R3 Telmex Race of Mexico Autódromo Miguel E. Abed 6 April R4 3 R5 Monroe Race of Spain Circuit Ricardo Tormo 18 May R6 4 R7 Courtyard Race of France Circuit de Pau Ville 1 June R8 5 R9 Stihl Race of the Czech Republic Masaryk Circuit 15 June R10 6 R11 Race of Turismo de Portugal Autódromo do Estoril 13 July R12 7 R13 Courtyard Race of UK Brands Hatch 27 July R14 8 R15 Atari Race of Germany Motorsport Arena Oschersleben 31 August R16 9 R17 Courtyard Race of Europe Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari 21 September R18 10 R19 Monroe Race of Italy Autodromo Nazionale di Monza 5 October R20 11 R21 Race Pro of Japan Okayama International Circuit 26 October R22 12 R23 Canon Race of Macau Guia Circuit 16 November R24
Results and standings
Races Race Race Name Pole Position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team Winning independent Report 1 Race of Brazil Yvan Muller Andy Priaulx Yvan Muller SEAT Sport Olivier Tielemans Report 2 Augusto Farfus Gabriele Tarquini SEAT Sport Olivier Tielemans 3 Race of Mexico Jordi Gené Tiago Monteiro Jordi Gené SEAT Sport Pierre-Yves Corthals Report 4 Yvan Muller Tiago Monteiro SEAT Sport Pierre-Yves Corthals 5 Race of Spain Yvan Muller Jörg Müller Robert Huff Chevrolet RML Stefano D'Aste Report 6 Alain Menu Alain Menu Chevrolet RML Sergio Hernández 7 Race of France Augusto Farfus Augusto Farfus Augusto Farfus BMW Team Germany Laurent Cazenave Report 8 Rickard Rydell Andy Priaulx BMW Team UK Stefano D'Aste 9 Race of the Czech Republic Alessandro Zanardi Félix Porteiro Alessandro Zanardi BMW Team Italy-Spain Sergio Hernández Report 10 Alessandro Zanardi Gabriele Tarquini SEAT Sport Sergio Hernández 11 Race of Portugal Nicola Larini Nicola Larini Rickard Rydell SEAT Sport Pierre-Yves Corthals Report 12 Nicola Larini Tiago Monteiro SEAT Sport Sergio Hernández 13 Race of UK Augusto Farfus Robert Huff Jörg Müller BMW Team Germany Stefano D'Aste Report 14 Augusto Farfus Alain Menu Chevrolet RML Stefano D'Aste 15 Race of Germany Robert Huff Augusto Farfus Augusto Farfus BMW Team Germany Stefano D'Aste Report 16 Augusto Farfus Félix Porteiro BMW Team Italy-Spain Sergio Hernández 17 Race of Europe Rickard Rydell James Thompson Yvan Muller SEAT Sport Sergio Hernández Report 18 Tiago Monteiro James Thompson N.Technology Sergio Hernández 19 Race of Italy Yvan Muller Andy Priaulx Yvan Muller SEAT Sport Pierre-Yves Corthals Report 20 Alain Menu Gabriele Tarquini SEAT Sport Sergio Hernández 21 Race of Japan Augusto Farfus Jörg Müller Rickard Rydell SEAT Sport Stefano D'Aste Report 22 James Thompson Tom Coronel SUNRED Racing Sergio Hernández 23 Guia Race of Macau Alain Menu Andy Priaulx Alain Menu Chevrolet RML Sergio Hernández Report 24 Augusto Farfus Robert Huff Chevrolet RML Franz Engstler
Championship standings Points system 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 108654321 Drivers' Championship The final standings in the 2008 FIA World Touring Car Championship for Drivers were : Pos Driver BRA MEX ESP FRA CZE POR UK GER EUR ITA JPN MAC Pts 1 Yvan Muller 1 5 6 4 4 8 2 7 8 5 3 2 2 11 11 8 1 5 1 4 7 6 3 2 114 2 Gabriele Tarquini 5 1 5 3 2 5 5 4 6 1 13 11 7 5 24 16 5 Ret 2 1 10 Ret 7 12† 88 3 Robert Huff Ret Ret 9 9 1 2 4 5 9 DSQ 4 5 21 10 2 3 4 3 6 26† 4 5 5 1 87 4 Andy Priaulx 4 2 10 8 7 3 8 1 14 8 6 3 3 Ret Ret 5 11 7 3 25† 3 22† 2 3 81 5 Rickard Rydell 2 7 2 2 10 7 6 3 10 17 1 8 11 9 6 20 2 6 16 9 1 9 Ret 4 77 6 Augusto Farfus DSQ 6 11 10 Ret 20 1 6 4 3 Ret 10 Ret 6 1 6 7 8 Ret 8 6 2 4 11† 63 7 Jörg Müller 3 4 14 12 5 4 9 13 5 7 9 7 1 4 26 9 8 2 9 10 2 Ret 10 Ret 60 8 Jordi Gené 11 8 1 5 3 6 3 19 13 14 5 9 9 Ret 5 4 17 17 7 2 11 10 6 Ret 56 9 Alain Menu Ret 10 8 7 8 1 10 Ret 3 6 11 14 8 1 3 Ret Ret 12 11 5 Ret 13 1 13† 54 10 Félix Porteiro 6 3 16 20† 22 10 15 12 2 4 8 4 6 2 8 1 10 Ret NC 12 Ret 8 14 DNS 51 11 Nicola Larini Ret 12 3 Ret 6 9 7 2 11 11 2 6 23 12 Ret 11 6 4 5 3 16 12 9 Ret 48 12 Tiago Monteiro 17 13 7 1 18 Ret 13 10 12 10 7 1 16 15 4 Ret 13 11 4 6 5 7 11 Ret 43 13 Alessandro Zanardi 15 11 15 11 12 18 12 11 1 2 20 13 4 3 12 19 12 9 8 7 13 Ret 23† 5 36 14 Tom Coronel 7 9 4 6 9 DNS 14 9 18 12 10 12 5 22 7 2 15 15 10 24† 8 1 22† Ret 35 15 James Thompson 11 11 11 8 7 9 DNS DNS 10 14 15 Ret 3 1 Ret 11 17 4 8 14† 25 16 Sergio Hernández 14† 15 17 15 23 12 17 17 15 13 Ret 15 13 8 10 7 9 10 14 13 12 3 12 Ret 9 17 Franz Engstler 10 17 18 16 17 17 19 15 16 23† 18 18 17 13 Ret 15 16 14 13 16 14 11 15 6 3 18 Stefano D'Aste 9 16 13 14 14 15 18 14 25† 21 19 16 12 7 9 13 18 16 24 14 9 23† 2 19 Manabu Orido 15 17 Ret 18 16 7 2 20 Olivier Tielemans 8 14 19 17 15 Ret 19 Ret Ret DNS 22 18 1 21 Matthew Marsh 21 14 17 8 1 — Andrey Romanov 12 19 20 18 16 Ret 20 20 20 16 16 20 17 Ret 20 20 18 Ret 22 15 20 9 0 — Ibrahim Okyay 16 20 21 19 24 19 Ret Ret Ret 19 17 23 18 Ret 19 Ret Ret 21 19 21 Ret DNS 18 10 0 — Duncan Huisman 16 10 0 — Pierre-Yves Corthals 13 18 12 13 Ret 13 Ret 21 17 15 12 19 14 16 25† 12 14 13 12 Ret 0 — 13 14 0 — Marin Čolak 13 17 0 — André Couto 13 Ret 0 — Kristian Poulsen 14 22 15 17 18 14 23† 15 0 — Jaap van Lagen Ret Ret 21 18 21 Ret 15 21 DNS 18 14 22 19 18 Ret 19 18 17 21 Ret 0 — Takayuki Aoki 17 Ret 15 Ret Ret 15† 0 — Aleksandr Lvov 19 16 23 20 0 — Laurent Cazenave 16 Ret 0 — Norbert Michelisz Ret 16 0 — Oscar Nogués Ret 16 0 — Tom Boardman Ret 17 0 — Georgi Tanev 21 21 21 19 20 18 19 Ret 0 — Viktor Shapovalov 20 Ret DNQ DNQ Ret 18 Ret 24 19 20 20 23 Ret DNS Ret 22 DNS DNS DNS DNS 0 — Yukinori Taniguchi 21 Ret 20 19 0 — 20 19 0 — Kirill Ladygin Ret 22 22 23 19 Ret Ret Ret 0 — Melvin Choo 23 20 Ret Ret 0 — Duarte Félix Da Costa Ret 20 0 — Andrey Smetsky 21 21 24 22 0 — Aytaç Biter 22 21 23 24 0 — Masaki Kano 24 21 Ret DNS 0 — Michal Matejovský 22 Ret 0 guest drivers ineligible for points — Robert Dahlgren 24† DNS * Pos Driver BRA MEX ESP FRA CZE POR UK GER EUR ITA JPN MAC Pts Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap † — Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.
Drivers' Championship points were awarded on a 10–8–6–5–4–3–2–1 basis to the first eight finishers in each race.
Manufacturers' Championship
Pos Manufacturer BRA MEX ESP FRA CZE POR UK GER EUR ITA JPN MAC Pts 1 SEAT 1 1 1 1 2 5 2 3 6 1 1 1 2 5 4 2 1 5 1 1 1 1 3 2 326 2 5 2 2 3 6 3 4 8 5 3 2 5 9 5 4 2 6 2 2 5 6 6 4 2 BMW 3 2 10 8 5 3 1 1 1 2 6 3 1 2 1 1 7 2 3 7 2 2 2 3 274 4 3 11 10 7 4 8 6 2 3 8 4 3 3 8 5 8 7 8 8 3 3 4 5 3 Chevrolet Ret 10 3 7 1 1 4 2 3 6 2 5 8 1 2 3 4 3 5 3 4 5 1 1 238 Ret 12 8 9 6 2 7 5 9 11 4 6 21 10 3 11 6 4 6 5 16 12 5 13 4 Honda 11 11 11 8 7 9 DNS DNS 10 14 15 Ret 3 1 21 11 17 4 8 14 60 19 16 23 20 Ret Ret 20 19 13 Ret Pos Manufacturer BRA MEX ESP FRA CZE POR UK GER EUR ITA JPN MAC Pts
Manufacturers' Championship points were awarded on a 10–8–6–5–4–3–2–1 basis to the first eight finishers in each race. However, only the results of the best two cars for each manufacturer were taken into account.
Yokohama Independents' Trophy Championship promoter KSO (Kigema Sport Organisation Ltd) organised the Yokohama Independents’ Trophies within the 2008 FIA World Touring Car Championship.Yokohama Independents’ Trophies Regulations - FIA World Touring Car Championship (2008)
Eligibility for the Independent Drivers’ Trophy was exclusively decided by KSO, taking into consideration the Team’s CV and records, the Driver’s CV and records and the Car’s technical characteristics.