Marrakech hosts, as is customary, a major motorsport event in April. However this year, still under the same sky, this event takes on a new dimension. From the merger of the two Championships that were the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) and the Touring Car Cup (TCR), the brand new FIA-labeled World Cup has just been born, and called the WTCR.
This new feature will be accompanied this year by the colors of Afriquia, the leading fuel and lubricant distribution network in Morocco.
And the season is already promising, since no less than 13 manufacturers have approved cars to participate in the WTCR, which confirms 28 cars entered for the opening of the Championship in the ocher city on April 7 and 8. The promoter Eurosport Events has already announced an exciting season with all the new features announced.
“The combination of the new technical rules, the expertise of the FIA, linked to the promotional strength of Eurosport Events, will make it possible to have a very competitive grid and very interesting races for the fans,” declared the director of Eurosport Events, François Ribeiro.
The all-new WTCR has set the rules that govern this event. Thus, the technical regulations include two-wheel drive cars, four or five-door sedans or two-wheel drive cars. hatchbacks, using production turbo engines with capacity? between 1,750 and 2,000cc, and a maximum power of 350 hp.
This translates for all factory or private teams into a substantial reduction in budgets and therefore also by an expansion in the number of manufacturers having homologated? models according to this technical definition. So no less than 13 manufacturers like Alfa Romeo, Audi, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, KIA, Lada, Opel, Peugeot, Renault, Seat, Subaru and VW have counterparts? models now eligible for WTCR. If the 2018 calendar is disputed? has? new on 4 continents, Morocco will have the honor of opening the season on the famous Circuit Moulay El Hassan.
The format of the race weekends will be slightly different since no less than 3 races will now be contested.
Cost? stables, the manufacturers will be in force on the starting grid at? Marrakech with of course prestigious teams like Sebastien Loeb Racing. The team of the nine-time World Rally Champion will, for once, leave the PSA Group to run the reigning TCR champion, the VW Golf GTI. The competition promises to be in full swing. National champion Mehdi Bennani, in the position of title contender, will count on the unwavering support of the Moroccan public to assert himself in the biggest automotive event in Africa.
source: today.ma
