The 2021 World Touring Car Cup was the fourth season of the

World Touring Car Cup The FIA World Touring Car Cup (abbreviated to WTCR, referring to the use of TCR regulations) was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It ...

and 17th overall of the series, which dates back to the

2005 World Touring Car Championship The 2005 World Touring Car Championship was the second season of World Touring Car Championship motor racing, and the first since 1987. It featured the 2005 FIA World Touring Car Championship which was contested over a ten event, twenty race seri ...

. The season began on 5 June at the

Nürburgring The () is a 150,000-person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long configuration, built in the 1920s ...

and ended on 28 November in

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

Teams and drivers

Summary

JAS Motorsport JAS Motorsport is an Italian motor racing team and an engineering and manufacturing company. It was founded in 1995 by Paolo Jasson, Maurizio Ambrogetti and Giorgio Schön. The company initially competed with Alfa Romeo in 1996 and 1997. Since 199 ...

and Honda Racing retained their 2020 drivers –

Attila Tassi Attila Tassi (born 14 June 1999) is a Hungarian racing driver currently competing in the World Touring Car Cup. Having previously competed in the SEAT León Eurocup, TCR International Series and Hungarian Suzuki Cup. Racing career Tassi began ...

Tiago Monteiro Tiago Vagaroso da Costa Monteiro (; born 24 July 1976) is a Portuguese professional racing driver. He competed in Formula One between 2005 and 2006 for the Jordan Grand Prix, Midland and Spyker MF1 teams – all different iterations of the s ...

Néstor Girolami Néstor Adrián Girolami (born May 22, 1989), also known by the nickname "Bebu", is an Argentina, Argentine auto racing, racing driver. His brother Franco Girolami, Franco is also racing driver. Career He began competing in karts in 1993. He r ...

and

Esteban Guerrieri Esteban Guerrieri (born 19 January 1985) is an Argentina, Argentine racing driver currently competing in the FIA TCR World Tour for the GOAT Racing JAS Motorsport, Honda team. His early career in single-seaters saw him become Formula Renault Euro ...

– for the 2021 season. On 15 January it was announced that all four drivers would continue to compete for

Münnich Motorsport Münnich Motorsport GmbH, which also competes under the title All-Inkl.com Racing, is an auto racing team founded by German racing driver and entrepreneur René Münnich in 2006. The team has been built around three areas of motorsport since its ...

and announced that

and

would join the ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport with

and

remaining at the ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport.

Comtoyou Racing JNVS Sprl, competing as Comtoyou Racing, is a Belgium, Belgian auto racing team based in Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo, Belgium. Upon its creation the team raced in the Fun Cup. The team has also previously raced in the TCR International Series in ...

switched from the running

Audi RS 3 LMS TCR The Audi RS 3 LMS TCR is a racing car built according to the TCR Touring Car, TCR rule system. It is based on the Audi A3, Audi RS 3 sedan. It has also undergone significant widening, as well as racing spoilers have been fitted to the car, as we ...

to the all-new facelifted Audi RS 3 LMS TCR (2021).

Nathanaël Berthon Nathanaël Antonin Berthon (born 1 July 1989 in Romagnat) is a professional racing driver from France. Career Karting Berthon began his international karting career in 2006, with the highlights being a third-place finish in the Copa Campeones T ...

Gilles Magnus Gilles Magnus (born 30 August 1999) is a Belgian racing driver currently competing in the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup. He previously competed in the World Touring Car Cup from 2020 to 2022. He has also been a factory driver for Audi Spo ...

and

Tom Coronel Tom Romeo Coronel (born 5 April 1972) is a Dutch professional racing driver. Tom's twin brother Tim Coronel, Tim is also a racer, just like their father Tom Coronel Sr. His most important results are winning the Masters of Formula 3, Marlboro Mast ...

remained with

and

Frédéric Vervisch Frédéric Vervisch ( ; born 10 August 1986 in Kortrijk) is a Belgian racing driver who currently races in the GT World Challenge Europe. Career Early career A winner of numerous karting Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline ...

returned to the series and the team after having last raced in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Cyan Racing Cyan Racing is the official motorsport partner to Geely Group Motorsport, formerly the Volvo factory auto racing team, and runs the FIA WTCR programme for Lynk & Co, based in Gothenburg, Sweden. The team’s current drivers are Thed Björk, ...

committed to run four

Lynk & Co 03 TCR The Lynk & Co 03 TCR is a racing car developed by Cyan Racing, which has also developed Volvo, having won the WTCC in 2017 which, like Lynk & Co, is part of the Geely group. The race car is based on the eponymous Lynk & Co 03. History The dev ...

cars for the season,

Yann Ehrlacher Yann Ehrlacher (born 4 July 1996) is a French auto racing driver who competes in the TCR World Tour for Cyan Performance Lynk & Co. He was the 2020 World Touring Car Cup winner and defended the title in 2021. He is the son of former racing dri ...

and

Yvan Muller Yvan Muller (born 16 August 1969) is a French auto racing driver most noted for success in touring car racing. He is a four-time World Touring Car Championship, World Touring Car Champion, winning the title in 2008 with SEAT, in 2010 and 2011 wit ...

were confirmed as drivers for Cyan Racing Lynk & Co and announced that

Thed Björk Thed Björk Bang-Melchior (born 14 December 1980) is a Sweden, Swedish racing driver, and 2017 World Touring Car Championship, World Touring Car Champion. Other notable titles include the 2006 Swedish Touring Car Championship and the 2013, 2014 ...

and

Santiago Urrutia Santiago Urrutia Lausarot (born 30 August 1996) is a Uruguayan racing driver. He currently competes in the World Touring Car Cup, driving for Cyan Performance Lynk & Co. He formerly competed in Indy Lights, and was the 2015 Pro Mazda series ch ...

were confirmed as drivers for Cyan Performance Lynk & Co.

Hyundai Hyundai is a former South Korean industrial conglomerate ("''chaebol''"), which was restructured into the following groups: * Hyundai Group, parts of the former conglomerate which have not been divested ** Hyundai Asan, a real estate construction ...

switched from the running

Hyundai i30 N TCR The Hyundai i30 N TCR is a racing car developed by Hyundai Motorsport, which was built according to the TCR rule system. It is based on the Hyundai i30 5-door hatchback. The project started in September 2016 with the help of Gabriele Tarquini ...

to the all-new

Hyundai Elantra N TCR The Hyundai Elantra N TCR is a racing car developed by Hyundai Motorsport. It is Hyundai's third TCR Touring Car, TCR car after the Hyundai i30 N TCR and the Hyundai Veloster N TCR. Development The Elantra N TCR was unveiled by Hyundai Motors ...

BRC Racing Team BRC Racing Team is an Italian auto racing team based in Cherasco, Italy. The team is currently competing in various racing series such as TCR International Series and Tour European Rally. The team is sponsored by BRC Gas Equipment and the team is no ...

entered under the BRC Hyundai N Lukoil Squadra Corse banner with two former champions in

Norbert Michelisz Norbert Michelisz (born 8 August 1984) is a Hungarian auto racing driver. He was the 2019 winner of the World Touring Car Cup and winner of the TCR World Tour in 2023 and 2024. Career Early career Michelisz was the 2006 Hungarian Suzuki Swi ...

and

Gabriele Tarquini Gabriele Tarquini (born 2 March 1962) is an Italian former racing driver, who competed in Formula One between and , and World Touring Car from to 2021. In touring car racing, Tarquini won the World Touring Car Championship in with SEAT; ...

, while

Engstler Motorsport Engstler Motorsport is a private German auto racing team based in Wiggensbach, run by driver Franz Engstler. It has competed successfully in the Asian Touring Car Championship and the ADAC Procar Series. It is sponsored by lubricants company ...

entered the remaining two Hyundai cars under the Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team name for

Luca Engstler Luca Engstler (born 8 March 2000) is a German racing driver currently competing in the 2024 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, DTM. Like his father Franz Engstler he made his name in the touring car scene, winning the TCR Asia Series in 2018 TCR Asi ...

and

Jean-Karl Vernay Jean-Karl "J. K." Vernay (born 31 October 1987) is a French professional racing driver. He was 2010 Indy Lights and 2017 TCR International Series champion. He has won races at the World Touring Car Cup, where he finished fifth in 2018 and won th ...

, the latter having switched from Team Mulsanne to replace

Nicky Catsburg Nick Catsburg (born 15 February 1988 in Amersfoort) is a Dutch professional racing driver, currently competing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship with Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports. He was also a factory driver for BMW from 2011 to ...

Target Competition Target Competition is an Italian auto racing team based in Eppan an der Weinstraße, Italy. The team is currently competing in the World Touring Car Cup and TCR Europe Touring Car Series as well in others TCR series. The team has previously race ...

joined full-time from the TCR Europe with Swedish siblings Andreas and

Jessica Bäckman Jessica Sofia Elizabet Bäckman (born 25 August 1997) is a Swedish racing driver currently competing in the GT4 European Series for racing one. She is the sister of fellow racing driver Andreas Bäckman. Jessica Bäckman has previously raced i ...

, who became the first woman to race in the championship.

2017 TCR Italy Touring Car Championship The 2017 TCR Italy Touring Car Championship is the third season of the ITCC to run under TCR regulations and the 31st season since a national touring car series was revived in 1987 as the Campionato Italiano Turismo. Teams and drivers Hankook ...

winner Nicola Baldan is also set to participate at selected rounds as a guest driver. The

Zengő Motorsport Zengő Motorsport is a Hungary, Hungarian motor racing team founded by Zoltán Zengő. They currently compete in the 2025 Formula 4 CEZ Championship championship. The team used to compete in the World Touring Car Cup, World Touring Car Championshi ...

structure continued at the WTCR and expanded to four Cupra León Competición TCR cars, running under two distinct banners. Bence Boldizs and

Mikel Azcona Mikel Azcona Troyas (born 25 June 1996) is a Spanish auto racing driver who competes in the World Touring Car Cup for PWR Racing. He won the TCR Europe Touring Car Series championship in 2018 and 2021 and the WTCR championship in 2022. Racing c ...

remained with the team, with series returnees

Jordi Gené Jordi Gené Guerrero (born 5 December 1970) is a racing driver who competed in the World Touring Car Championship between 2005 and 2010. His younger brother, Marc is also an ex-racing driver and is currently a Brand Ambassador for the Scuderia ...

, who had last taken part in the series in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, when it was called the

World Touring Car Championship The FIA World Touring Car Championship was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It has had several different incarnations, including a sing ...

, and 2012 World Touring Car Championship & 2020 STCC TCR Scandinavia Touring Car Championship winner

Robert Huff Robert "Rob" Peter Huff (born 25 December 1979) is a British racing driver currently competing in the British Touring Car Championship for Toyota Gazoo Racing UK. He was the 2012 World Touring Car Championship champion and the 2020 Scandinavi ...

, who came back after a year's absence, joining them at Zengő Motorsport Drivers’ Academy and Zengő Motorsport Services KFT respectively.

Calendar

The preliminary race calendar was published by the championship management on 13 November 2020. A change from previous years is that in 2021, for cost-cutting reasons, two races will be held on a weekend instead of three, and the series will return to the Asian continent after a year of omission. On 22 January 2021, the calendar was updated, postponing the Race of Hungary to 21–22 August and replacing the Race of Slovakia with the Race of Italy. On 10 May 2021, it was announced that the Race of Portugal would be held at the

Circuito do Estoril The Circuito do Estoril or Autódromo do Estoril (Estoril Circuit), officially known as Autódromo Fernanda Pires da Silva, is a motorsport race track on the Portuguese Riviera, outside of Lisbon, owned by state-run holding management company P ...

instead of the

Circuito Internacional de Vila Real The Circuito Internacional de Vila Real is a temporary street circuit in Vila Real, Portugal. This circuit was used for car and motorbike races. The circuit The circuit layout has suffered several changes through the times. Started as a stree ...

. On 19 August 2021, three new rounds were announced as replacements for the races in the Far East.

Results

Championship standings

;Scoring system ;Scoring system for WTCR Trophy

Drivers' championship

Teams' championship

Juniors' championship

WTCR Trophy

Eligible for drivers racing without manufacturer support.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:World Touring Car 2021 in motorsport 2021 in TCR Series

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...