The 2022 World Touring Car Cup was the fifth and final season of the World Touring Car Cup and 18th overall of the series, which dates back to the 2005 World Touring Car Championship. The season began on 7 May at the Circuit de Pau-Ville and ended on 27 November in Jeddah Corniche Circuit, however multiple event cancellations due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and ongoing quarantine restrictions in Asia. On 1 September 2022, the organiser announced the final version of the calendar, adding Bahrain and Saudi Arabia as final venues for the 2022 season.
The season was marred by issues with tyres as drivers suffered numerous tyre failures on several rounds. These led to the cancellation of the races at the Nürburgring and Cyan Racing withdrawing from the series midway through the year. Only nine drivers completed the full season.
On 14 October 2022, the promoter Discovery Sports Events announced that after five seasons of running the WTCR, the series would be discontinued following the conclusion of the season, which had two rounds remaining in Bahrain (10–12 November) and Saudi Arabia (25–27 November. This resulted in TCR global rights holder WSC Group creating a new format, known as the TCR World Tour, influenced by golf's Official World Golf Ranking, in that all TCR events will be grouped for official TCR World Ranking points, which will be used to qualify drivers into a playoff at the end of the season, and a new format featuring events from different TCR-featured tours where drivers can also qualify for the TCR World Ranking Final.
Teams and drivers Team Car No. Drivers Class Rounds Ref. BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Hyundai Elantra N TCR 5 Norbert Michelisz All 96 Mikel Azcona All Liqui Moly Team Engstler Honda Civic Type R TCR (FK8) 9 Attila Tassi All 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 1–6 12 Santiago Urrutia 1–6 55 Ma Qing Hua 1–6 Cyan Racing Lynk & Co 68 Yann Ehrlacher 1–6 100 Yvan Muller 1–6 Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Audi RS 3 LMS TCR (2021) 16 Gilles Magnus All 25 Mehdi Bennani T 1–8 72 Franco Girolami T 9 Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport 17 Nathanaël Berthon All 33 Tom Coronel T All Zengő Motorsport Cupra León Competición TCR 66 Bence Boldizs T 8 79 Robert Huff T 1–7, 9 99 Dániel Nagy T 1–5, 7–9 Wildcard entries Comtoyou Racing Audi RS 3 LMS TCR (2021) 24 Ahmed BinKhanen 9 72 Franco Girolami 8 110 Viktor Davidovski 8–9 Comtoyou Team Audi Sport 64 Éric Cayrolle 1 BRC Hyundai N Racing Team Hyundai Elantra N TCR 88 Nicky Catsburg 8–9 LegendT Eligible for WTCR Trophy
Summary JAS Motorsport and Honda Racing retained their 2021 drivers – Attila Tassi, Tiago Monteiro, Néstor Girolami and Esteban Guerrieri – for the 2022 season but on 15 January it was announced that Engstler Motorsport will switch from Hyundai to Honda. Mikel Azcona will switch from Zengő Motorsport Services KFT to BRC Hyundai N Lukoil Squadra Corse to replace Gabriele Tarquini. 2020 TCR China Touring Car Championship winner Ma Qing Hua returned to the series after having last raced in 2019 for Team Mulsanne, driving a car for Cyan Performance Lynk & Co. 2020 TCR Europe Touring Car Series winner Mehdi Bennani returned to the series and Comtoyou Racing after having last raced in 2019 for SLR VW Motorsport to replace last season's runner-up Frédéric Vervisch. Dániel Nagy returned to the series and Zengő Motorsport after having last taken part in the series in 2018, to replace Bence Boldizs.
Mid-season changes Cyan Racing withdrew from the Race of Italy, citing tire safety concerns. Cyan Racing would later suspend their WTCR program with immediate effect for the same reason in August 2022 and not see out the season.
Calendar The preliminary race calendar was published by the championship management on 26 November 2021. On 26 February 2022, WTCR Race of Russia was suspended due to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. On 19 March 2022, the calendar was updated again with the cancellation of the Czech and Russian rounds. A further update was ratified on 14 April 2022, with the addition of two rounds at Vallelunga and Anneau du Rhin. Another update was made on 29 June 2022 by cancelling Asian rounds due to the logistical challenges and quarantine restrictions in Asia: An update was provided on 1 September 2022 by adding races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia to host the final rounds of the championship.
Round Race Race name Circuit Date Supporting 1 1 WTCR Race of France Circuit de Pau-Ville 7–8 May Pau Motors FestivalEuroformula Open (Pau Grand Prix)ETCR ChampionshipFrench F4 Championship 2 2 3 WTCR Goodyear Race of Germany Nürburgring Nordschleife 26–28 May Nürburgring 24 Hours 4 3 5 WTCR Goodyear Race of Hungary Hungaroring 11–12 June ETCR Championship 6 4 7 WTCR DHL Race of Spain Ciudad del Motor de Aragón 25–26 June 8 5 9 WTCR Race of Portugal Circuito Internacional de Vila Real 2–3 July 10 6 11 WTCR Race of Italy Autodromo Vallelunga Piero Taruffi 23–24 July ETCR Championship 12 7 13 WTCR Race of Alsace Grand Est Anneau du Rhin 6–7 August 14815 WTCR Bapco Race of Bahrain Bahrain International Circuit 10–12 NovemberFIA World Endurance Championship16917 WTCR Goodyear Race of Saudi Arabia Jeddah Corniche Circuit 25–27 November18
The following rounds were cancelled due to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and logistical challenges in Asia:
Race name Circuit Date WTCR Liqui Moly Race of Czech Republic Autodrom Most 9–10 April WTCR Race of Russia Sochi Autodrom 6–7 August WTCR Race of Korea Inje Speedium 8–9 October WTCR Race of China Ningbo International Circuit 5–6 November WTCR Race of Macau Guia Circuit 18–20 NovemberSource:
Compensation weight handicaps Compensation weight handicaps were given to the participating cars based on their best qualifying lap times in the previous two events, with 40 kg being the maximum penalty. Hyundai customer team BRC Racing Team was in particular noted to have gamed the system by intentionally performing worse than possible in qualifying to avoid being penalised. Car Pau Nürburgring Hungaroring Aragón Vila Real Vallelunga Anneau du Rhin Bahrain Jeddah Audi RS 3 LMS TCR (2021) 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg +10 kg +40 kg +40 kg 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg Cupra León Competición TCR 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg Honda Civic Type R TCR (FK8) 0 kg +40 kg +40 kg +40 kg +40 kg +20 kg +40 kg +40 kg +40 kg Hyundai Elantra N TCR 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg +10 kg Lynk & Co 03 TCR 0 kg 0 kg 0 kg +10 kg +20 kg +40 kg +40 kg – –
Results Race Race name Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team WTCR Trophy winner Report 1 Race of France Néstor Girolami Robert Huff Néstor Girolami ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Mehdi Bennani Report 2 Mikel Azcona Mikel Azcona BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Robert Huff 3 Race of Germany Mehdi Bennani Race CancelledReport 4 5 Race of Hungary Mikel Azcona Mikel Azcona Mikel Azcona BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Robert HuffReport 6 Robert Huff Santiago Urrutia Cyan Performance Lynk & Co Robert Huff 7 Race of Spain Gilles Magnus Gilles Magnus Gilles Magnus Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Robert Huff Report 8 Robert Huff Mikel Azcona BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Robert Huff 9 Race of Portugal Santiago Urrutia Santiago Urrutia Santiago Urrutia Cyan Performance Lynk & Co Robert Huff Report 10 Robert Huff Robert Huff Zengő Motorsport Robert Huff 11 Race of Italy Néstor Girolami Nathanaël Berthon Néstor Girolami ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Tom Coronel Report 12 Gilles Magnus Gilles Magnus Audi Sport Team Comtoyou Robert Huff 13 Race of Alsace Grand Est Néstor Girolami Esteban Guerrieri Nathanaël Berthon Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Robert HuffReport 14 Mikel Azcona Robert Huff Zengő Motorsport Robert Huff15 Race of Bahrain Mikel Azcona Norbert Michelisz Mikel Azcona BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Tom CoronelReport16 Norbert Michelisz Norbert Michelisz BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Tom Coronel17 Race of Saudi Arabia Nathanaël Berthon Nathanaël Berthon Nathanaël Berthon Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Tom CoronelReport18 Gilles Magnus Gilles Magnus Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Robert Huff
Championship standings Scoring system Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th Qualifying(Q1-Q3 Best Lap Top 5) 10 8 6 4 2colspan=10 Race 1 30 23 19 16 14 12 10 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Race 2 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 1colspan=5 Race 10 8 5 3 1 1
Drivers' championship Driver FRA GER HUN ESP PRT ITA AGE BHR SAU 1 Mikel Azcona 64 1 C5 C 1 8 3 1 8 3 22 3 33 3 11 4 62 3 337 2 Néstor Girolami 11 7 C C 74 3 12 12 3 9 11 5 21 7 43 9 10 8 254 3 Nathanaël Berthon 163 4 C C 33 12 42 8 10 Ret 9 2 12 8 32 5 11| style="background:#efcfff;" |Ret ! 240 |- ! 4 | align="left" | Norbert Michelisz | style="background:#dfffdf;" | 9 | style="background:#efcfff;" | Ret | style="background:#ffffff;" | C | style="background:#ffffff;" | C | style="background:#dfffdf;" | 12 | style="background:#dfffdf;" | 4 | style="background:#dfffdf;" | 6 | style="background:#efcfff;" | Ret | style="background:#dfffdf;" | 4 | style="background:#dfffdf;" | 5 | style="background:#dfffdf;" | 44 | style="background:#dfffdf;" | 4 | style="background:#dfffdf;" | 4 | style="background:#dfffdf;" | 4 | style="background:#dfdfdf;" | 24 | style="background:#ffffbf;" | 1 | style="background:#dfdfdf;" | 24 | style="background:#ffdf9f;" | 4 ! 222 |- ! 5 | align="left" | Gilles Magnus | style="background:#dfffdf;" | 85 | style="background:#efcfff;" | Ret | style="background:#ffffff;" | C2 | style="background:#ffffff;" | C | style="background:#dfffdf;" | 41 | style="background:#dfffdf;" | 7 | style="background:#ffffbf;" | 11 14 Ret 13 31 75 5 Ret Ret 531 210 6 Robert Huff 12 8 C C 6 2 23 2 61 8 6 5 1 9 5 210 7 Esteban Guerrieri 22 5 C C 95 10 11 11 Ret Ret 73 10 104 10 8 2 11 11 149 8 Santiago Urrutia 7 2 C3 C 8 1 8 3 1 10 DNS DNS 137 9 Yann Ehrlacher 4 15 C4 C 22 6 54 5 2 8 DNS DNS 133 10 Tom Coronel 11 12 C C 15 13 Ret Ret 13 12 6 7 6 11 6 6 35 6 115 11 Mehdi Bennani 10 Ret C1 C 13 Ret 10 9 7 6 10 9 11 2 7 8 112 12 Ma Qinghua 5 3 C C 5 5 13 6 5 7 DNS DNS 97 13 Attila Tassi 17 13 C C 14 14 Ret 13 9 2 55 8 Ret 9 96 Ret 14 Ret 83 14 Yvan Muller 3 6 C C 10 9 75 7 14 4 DNS DNS 78 15 Tiago Monteiro 15 10 C C 16 15 14 15 11 Ret 11 11 9 6 12 12 13 9 70 16 Dániel Nagy 13 11 C C 17 Ret Ret 4 12 Ret 8 12 11 10 Ret 7 62 17 Thed Björk Ret 9 C C 11 11 9 10 Ret 11 DNS DNS 3518 Franco Girolami 14 7 4 Ret1619 Bence Boldizs 13 1112 Wildcard entries ineligible for points— Viktor Davidovski 10 13 8 2—— Nicky Catsburg 55 3 7 Ret—— Ahmed BinKhanen 12 10— — Éric Cayrolle 14 14 — Driver FRA GER HUN ESP PRT ITA AGE BHR SAU
Teams' championship Team FRA GER HUN ESP PRT ITA AGE BHR SAU 1 BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse 5 9 Ret C C 12 4 5 Ret 4 5 44 4 4 4 24 1 24 4 559 96 64 1 C5 C 1 8 3 1 8 3 22 3 33 3 11 4 62 3 2 ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport 29 11 7 C C 74 3 12 12 3 9 11 5 21 7 43 9 10 8 403 86 22 5 C C 95 10 11 11 Ret Ret 73 10 104 10 8 2 11 11 3 Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport 17 163 4 C C 33 12 42 8 10 Ret 9 2 12 8 32 5 11| style="background:#efcfff;" | Ret !rowspan=2| 355 |- | 33 | style="background:#dfffdf;"| 11 | style="background:#dfffdf;"| 12 | style="background:#ffffff;" | C | style="background:#ffffff;" | C | style="background:#dfffdf;" | 15 | style="background:#dfffdf;" | 13 | style="background:#efcfff;" | Ret | style="background:#efcfff;" | Ret | style="background:#dfffdf;" | 13 | style="background:#dfffdf;" | 12 | style="background:#dfffdf;" | 6 | style="background:#dfffdf;" | 7 | style="background:#dfffdf;" | 6 | style="background:#dfffdf;" | 11 | style="background:#dfffdf;" | 6 | style="background:#dfffdf;" | 6 | style="background:#ffdf9f;" | 35 | style="background:#dfffdf;" | 6 |- ! rowspan="3" | 4 | rowspan="3" align="left" | Comtoyou Team Audi Sport