After a long-running tradition of the World Touring Car (WTCR) season finale being held on the streets of Macau, 2019 will see the title-deciding weekend take place in Malaysia instead.
Although the WTCR series will still head to the famous Guia circuit in November, the championship is now set to continue further into the Winter months. At the recently-held 2018 PETRONAS SIC Motorsports Association of Malaysia Awards ceremony, it was announced that the world’s premier touring car competition would conclude at the Sepang International Circuit on Sunday the 15th December.
The WTCR will share the track that weekend with another Eurosport Events series, the FIM World Endurance Championship. As such, the venue will host an 8-hour superbike race on Saturday before the cars take to the track on Sunday.
A particular highlight of the event shall be the final of the three WTCR races scheduled to take place that weekend. Race Three, which is set to begin at 19:00 local time, will be the first WTCR race to be held under floodlights in the darkness of night.
Francois Ribeiro, Head of Eurosport Events, said: “We are very proud to be working with the Sepang International Circuit and writing with them a new chapter in the country’s and south-east Asia’s motorsport history. It promises to be a weekend of great action and entertainment for all the family with racing for bikes and cars at day and by night.”
“As promoter of both FIA WTCR and FIM EWC, we proposed to SIC to run both series over the same weekend. The circuit has the highest level of homologation for both two and four wheels and has a long experience of putting on world championships events, so we feel confident to deliver a unique experience to fans, teams, drivers and riders. We really look forward to it!”
Sepang International Circuit CEO, Razlan Razali, followed up with his own sentiments: “With the departure of F1 in Malaysia, we were tasked to look into other world-class events to include in our annual calendar. Through fan voting and further feasibility study, FIM EWC and FIA WTCR were the top two selected events, both promoted by Eurosport Events.”
“This special collaboration with Eurosport Events will make the race exclusive and one of a kind which will create history for Malaysia to host two world championships together in one weekend.”
“Both races will take place until sunset and the chequered flag will be waived under the new SIC Circuit Lights. Tickets are now available for purchase through SIC’s website and we encourage all fans to come and witness these exciting world-class championships as they make their #RoadToMalaysia.”
