This thread is spun out of a discussion in the WTCC group. While following the race at Monza over the weekend, I noticed that the series only did two nine-lap races at the circuit (52km each – WTCC appears to run to the first lap after 50km race distance). And this, I think, is a joke. AutoGP, which is supposed to be a support series to the WTCC, was run over 14 laps. Compare the World Tourning Car Championship to some other well-known touring car series, and this is what you get:
* The first round of the V8 Supercars is made up of two 250km races.
* The opening race of the SuperGT series is a 300km race.
* DTM’s first round is 38 laps (~140km) of Hockenheim.
* GT1 does a time-based event, with one hour of racing.
I’m not sure what the BTCC or some of the other touring car events do, but it got me wondering: if an event is a “world” championship, then is there some minimum thing that that series should do? Like in the WTCC – should all races be (for example) a minimum of 100km long? Or should there be some other requirement?