WTCR’s Sporting Regulations undergo key changes

The FIA Touring Car Commission has approved several key changes to the WTCR Sporting Regulations for 2022.
The three-phase Qualifying (Q1, Q2, Q3) format remains unchanged but the point allocation has been tweaked. From next year, the fastest five drivers in Qualifying, regardless of at which point they set their best lap or whether they progress to Q3 or not, will be rewarded with points on a 10-8-6-4-2 scale. The change will encourage drivers to push for fast lap times in each phase of Qualifying and avoid strategies aimed for securing the 10^th place in Q2, which comes with pole position for the partially-reversed-grid race.
Race 1 becomes the most important of the weekend. Instead of featuring the top-ten reversed grid, it will start with a grid based on the final results of the Qualifying. It will last 30 minutes plus one lap or 35 minutes plus one lap on street circuits in the event of the safety car being deployed. The top seven finishers will get more points than previously with drivers scoring as follows: 1^st = 30 points; 2^nd = 23; 3^rd = 19; 4^th = 16; 5^th = 14; 6^th= 12; 7^th = 10; 8^th = 8; 9^th = 7; 10^th = 6; 11^th = 5; 12^th = 4; 13^th = 3; 14^th = 2; 15^th = 1.
Race 2 becomes the partially-reversed-grid race on the distance of 25 minutes plus one lap or 30 minutes plus one lap if there’s a safety car intervention on a street track. Points will be scored as follows: 1^st = 25 points; 2^nd= 20; 3^rd = 16; 4^th = 13; 5^th = 11; 6^th = 10; 7^th = 9; 8^th = 8; 9^th = 7; 10^th = 6; 11^th = 5; 12^th = 4; 13^th = 3; 14^th = 2; 15^th = 1.
The opportunity for refuelling, repairs and set-up changes between races has been extended to a minimum of 60 minutes from the previous 20. The increase will give teams more opportunity to repair damage from Race 1 in a less intense manner or switch to a set-up that might enhance car performance for Race 2 and increase the chance of winning. With more time to ready cars for the second race, drivers will be more inclined to push harder in Race 1.
The Compensation Weight rules have been revised and simplified for 2022. All cars will carry zero kilograms of Compensation Weight at the first event of the new WTCR season. For the second event the Compensation Weight for each model will be based on the best Qualifying time set during the previous event. From the third event the Compensation Weight will be based on the best Qualifying time set during either of the previous two events, rather than an average of the best two lap times out of three events, which was the case in 2021. It will mean the Compensation Weight will be quicker to update and therefore more responsive.
In addition, the maximum Compensation Weight has been reduced from 60 to 40 kilograms to avoid significant contrasting performances from race to race and therefore make the performance levels even closer. The same Compensation Weight principles will apply to race-by-race entries.

Picture: WTCR/DPPI