This Week in Motorsport
With Speed mainstays N.A.S.C.A.R. & Formula One done for the year, & with F1 moving to different pastures (one hopes greener, but fears otherwise) next year, & with every racing series done 'til next year, the self-described "Motor Sports Authority" faces a programming dilemma: How to fill the empty hours of airtime? Why, with the rest of the year's racing! "This Week in Motorsport" has already chronicled Speed's surprising coverage of the Porsche Supercup, which ran only in the spring, summer, & fall as part of the F1 circus; add to that full-season coverage of the World Touring Car Championship (W.T.C.C.), the British Touring Car Championship (B.T.C.C.), the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (D.T.M.), & the G.T.1 World Championship.

Formula Fun!
Porsche Supercup
Rounds 3* & 8
Magyar Nagydíj (Hungarian Grand Prix)
Saturday & Sunday, 28-29 July 2012

Round 9
Grand Prix of Belgium
Sunday, 2 September 2012

Round 10
Gran Premio d'Italia
Sunday, 9 September 2012

*The third round of the season was originally for May, in support of the F1 Gran Premio de España, but it was cancelled for reasons unknown to this author. As a result, two races were held at the Hungaroring outside Budapest. Within the Supercup, Monaco continued to be called Round 4, despite being the next race after Round 2, & the two races at the Hungaroring were called Rounds 3 & 8. I rather admire that refusal to deviate more than absolutely necessary from the intended program.

The only problem with the television coverage of the Porsche Supercaup is that there isn't enough of it. The entire ten-race season was was crammed into three half-hour programs, meaning the races weren't really shown, just extended highlights. Four races is too many to cover adequately in a half hour! Still, beggars cannot be choosers, & I'm grateful for what Supercup coverage I was able to see, even whilst I greedily wish that I could see more. The racing was tight & well-mannered, & as every round of the Supercup is contest in support of an F1 grand prix, the facilities were top notch. I hope to see more of the Supercup next year, even though F1 will have migrated to N.B.C. (I shall address the move from Speed/Fox to the N.B.C. Sports Network/N.B.C. at a later date, in a special "Formula Fun!")

Tourists
World Touring Car Championship
Rounds 1 & 2
Race of Italy
Sunday, 11 March 2012

Rounds 3 & 4
Race of Spain
Sunday, 1 April 2012

Before this year all of my familiarity with the W.T.C.C. came from Mobil 1's weekly propaganda broadcast, The Grid, a very useful resource covering a wide variety of motorsport stories. This year, the W.T.C.C. held the inaugural Race of the United States, at California's Sonoma Raceway (Sears Point), home to N.A.S.C.A.R. Cup Series & IndyCar Series races. Speed provided same-day coverage of the two W.T.C.C. races, but that was the last I saw of the series 'til this month, when Speed began broadcasting races from the beginning of the season in March.

The W.T.C.C. is O.K., but it isn't great. It doesn't get the blood running like Le Mans or F1, but those are clearly unfair comparisons. It doesn't get the blood running like the World Challenge, but it is more satisfying than semi-professional/advanced club-racing series like the Mazda MX-5 Cup & the S.R.T. (Dodge) Viper Cup. The fiercest battle in the W.T.C.C. field is betwixt the three drivers for the reighting double World Champion Chevrolet factory team ('10 & '11; run by R.M.L., a massively successful British motorsport team), triple World Champion Yvan Muller ('08, '10, & '11), a Frenchman; Rob Huff, a Briton; & Alain Menu, a Swiss. They bump & battle in a manner most unbecoming of teammates in almost every other category of motorsport with which I am familiar. How is it that the Chevrolet Cruze is so much faster than everything else? I'd venture 'tis a combination of the drivers' abilities & R.M.L.'s engineering & management magic; there are privateer (customer) Cruzes in the field that are competitive, but not quite as quick as the works trio.

The W.T.C.C. is O.K. but not great, but with no races in North America 'til late January, & that the unfortunate 24 Hours of Daytona, the W.T.C.C. is far, far better than nothing. Thanks for not taking the off-season off, Speed!

The Rebel Black Dot Christmas Song of the Day
Leon Redbone, "Winter Wonderland" from Elf: Music from the Major Motion Picture (T.L.A.M.)