WTCC Asia Trophy launched

A new trophy for Asian drivers competing on a race-by-race basis will be awarded in this year’s World Touring Car Championship.

Dubbed the Eurosport Asia Trophy, the award will be determined by results in the three Asian rounds on this year’s calendar: Suzuka, Shanghai and Macau.

WTCC general manager Marcello Lotti said the move came as a response to increasing race-by-race participation from Asian drivers.

“In recent years we have noticed more and more interest in WTCC from the Asian drivers, especially because most of the former WTCC cars continue racing in the national championships in Macau, Hong Kong, China and other countries in the Far East,” he explained.

“To encourage them and in appreciation of their efforts, we have decided to award a special trophy that will be handed during the end of the season prize giving at Macau.

“And on top of this we are currently negotiating with potential sponsors to allocate prize money.”

The trophy will award points to the top eight Asian drivers on a sliding 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 scale.

An additional point will be awarded for each point scored in the main WTCC drivers’ championship.

Last year 13 Asian drivers entered at least one of the WTCC’s three Far East rounds.

Source: http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/other-news/touring-cars/wtcc/wtcc-asia-trophy-launched

Yuji Ide Jesús Iglesias Taki Inoue Innes Ireland Eddie Irvine