The World Touring Car Championship’s Japanese round will move to Twin Ring Motegi for the 2015 season, following confirmation of a new agreement between race promoter Mobility Corp and Eurosport Events Ltd.
The WTCC’s Race of Japan had been held at the Honda-owned Suzuka circuit for the past four years, taking place between 2011 and 2013 on the short ‘East’ circuit before moving to the full GP layout in 2014.
Twin Ring Motegi thus becomes the WTCC’s third home in Japan, with the series having also raced at Okayama between 2008 and 2010. The event is scheduled to take place between the 11th and 12 September 2015.
“We decided to hold the 2015 WTCC Race of Japan in Motegi under a mutual agreement with Eurosport Events Ltd (EEL),” said Hiroshi Soda, President of Mobilityland Corp. “EEL is in no doubt that the Twin Ring Motegi road course will enhance the excitement of WTCC and vice-versa and I’m sure many more motorsports fans will rediscover the real pleasure of the Twin Ring Motegi circuit by watching the battle of the greatest touring car championship in the world. I’d like to extend my heartfelt appreciation to EEL and all other persons concerned for their understanding and cooperation.”
Eurosport Events’ General Manager François Ribeiro expects that the nature of the circuit should lead to high-quality touring car races, given the excitement of previous events which have also held Moto GP races such as Termas de Río Hondo.
“We genuinely think WTCC has found its home in Japan at Motegi,” said Ribeori. “MotoGP tracks usually deliver high-quality touring car races and we are certain that the Motegi layout will offer close racing and significant overtaking opportunities.
“The WTCC was a success at Suzuka with attendances increasing each year. Given that popularity and the degree of expertise of Japanese motorsport fans, switching venues was a decision we took very carefully in conjunction with our partner Mobilityland.
“Mid-September should hopefully offer the most favourable weather conditions in terms of the local climate and we’ll be working very hard with all our Japanese WTCC stakeholders to promote the WTCC in the Tokyo area to ensure a good crowd.”
The event continues to take place at a Honda owned circuit, with the car manufacturer also owning Twin Ring Motegi, which was built in 1997.