A global TV audience of millions will tune into the action at Donington Park next season when it hosts the British round of the prestigious FIA World Touring Car Championship for the first time.
The Leicestershire circuit has prised the event from Brands Hatch, where it has been a regular fixture since 2006, and will host the race on July 14.
The FIA World Touring Car Championship, which has signed a two-year deal with Donington, is one of the fastest-growing series in professional motorsport and is rated as the FIA’s biggest road race outside of Formula 1.
It consists of 12 meetings held across four continents in countries such as Brazil, Japan, Spain and Macau and is contested by an international line-up of drivers, watched by a worldwide audience of 430 million viewers in 160 countries.
It will form part of an exciting calendar being lined up for 2011 at Donington Park, which will also welcome back the British Superbike Championship on September 10 and 11 and will host the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship on April 16 and 17.
Kevin Wheatcroft, Chairman of Donington Park Racing Ltd, described the acquisition of the WTCC was “a coup”, revealing that the organisers approached him on the strength of Donington’s facilities.
He said: “The FIA asked us to consider hosting the British round of the WTCC because the size of our paddocks and the excellent infrastructure we have at Donington fitted the bill for their ever-increasing operations.
“Getting the WTCC is a real coup, both for the track and the local area. It is a huge event which attracts large crowds and is watched the world over, so we can’t wait to bring it to Donington.
“The WTCC, the return of the British Superbikes and the BTCC mean that we are already looking at a thrilling year of racing, and there is more to come.”
The WTCC was introduced in 1987 but ran for just one season. It returned in 1993 in the form of the FIA World Touring Car Cup, which was a one-off event for the winners of national championships all over the world and which was held at Donington in 1994.
The Cup was scrapped in 1996 and was not revived, but the WTCC returned in 2005 after the European Touring Car Championship, which had been a regular visitor to Donington, was extended. It has since gone from strength to strength.
Each meeting has two races and there are two meetings left, in Japan and Macau. The current leader in Yvan Muller in his Chevrolet Cruze, ahead of British driver and three-time series winner Andy Priaulx and reigning champion Gabriele Tarquini.
FIA World Touring Car Championship Promoter Marcello Lotti said: “The layout of Brands Hatch’s paddock made the accommodation of the WTCC hospitalities difficult.
“We will find more suitable facilities at Donington Park, which has now been completely renovated. Besides this, we have good memories of our previous visits to Donington with the European Touring Car Championship between 2002 and 2004.”
British Superbikes will make a return to Donington Park after a year away while the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, which enjoyed an action-packed meeting in last month, returns to its customary spring slot in 2011.
