Touring Car (TC)

Touring and saloon production cars

Touring car racing began as a competition featuring production-based cars that were slightly modified for racing.

British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), established in 1958, is one of the oldest touring car series. Later the European Touring Car Championship (ETCC) was established in 1966 and the same year in USA the Trans-Am Series was established.

Other significant series was the Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft (DRM) ran from 1972 to 1985 for Group-5 cars and Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) established in 1984. Later the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) began in 1987 and was rebranded as the World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) in 2018.

Touring Car – Classic (TCC)

1960s & 1970s

In the 1960s touring car racing became popular with events like the British Saloon Car Championship (later BTCC) and ETCC where small european cars battled with large big-bore american muscle cars. In USA the muscle cars also raced with smaller european and Japanese cars in the Trans-Am series.

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Group 5 / IMSA “Silhouettes” (Grp-5)

1970s – 1980s

From the mid 1970’s Group-5 “Special Production Cars” represented a fascinating era in motorsport, characterized by extreme modifications and innovative engineering. The regulations permitted extensive modifications, leading to extreme Turbo Charging and the creation of some of the most iconic and powerful race cars.

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Touring Car – Retro (TCR)

1980s & 1990s

In the late 1970’s Touring Cars raced in lower classes (Grp-1, Grp-2) and in 1982 Group-A was introduced and became the standard for touring car racing. The 1980’s and 1990’s was a dynamic period, especially for the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) and the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM).

previuos

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Touring Car – Modern (TCM)

00s & onwards

After 2000 the BTCC and DTM remain prominent, with advancements in technology and safety. The BTCC features competitive racing with diverse manufacturers, while the DTM showcases high-performance cars with cutting-edge engineering.