The calendar for the 2016 World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) has been adjusted, with the opening race now set to take place at Circuit Paul Ricard in France in April, after the date and venue for the Russian round was moved.
The season has originally been mooted to begin at the Sochi Autodrom in Russia in March, subject to agreeing terms with the event promoter.
The Russian round will now take place at the Moscow Raceway in June, as in previous years, leaving the event in the south of France as the season opener for the first time.
The date of the Russian round had previously been given to the race in Vila Real in Portugal, which will now take place at the end of the month, two weeks later than originally shceduled. There are no other changes to the calendar.
“It has always been our intention to preserve Russia’s presence on the WTCC calendar and we are very pleased to have reached agreement with Moscow Raceway for this to happen,” said Head of Eurosport Events François Ribeiro. “The venue always delivers excellent WTCC races and its close proximity to the Russian capital provides a number of promotional opportunities and I expect this event to run at a much larger scale than previous editions.
“Our sincere thanks go to the city of Vila Real, the FPAK in Portugal, the RAF in Russia, our Russian stakeholders LADA and Rosneft and the FIA Touring Car Commission for all their assistance with this calendar change. We now look forward to a very exciting WTCC with new cars, new drivers, new MAC 3 format and other new initiatives in store.”
The calendar will now be submitted to the FIA World Motorsport Council for final approval.
Revised 2016 WTCC Calendar
| Round | Country | Circuit | Date |
| 1, 2 |  |
Circuit Paul Ricard | 1 – 3 April |
| 3, 4 |  |
Slovakiaring | 15 – 17 April |
| 5, 6 |  |
Hungaroring | 22 – 24 April |
| 7, 8 |  |
Marrakech | 6 – 8 May |
| 9, 10 |  |
Nürburgring | 27 – 29 May |
| 11, 12 |  |
Moscow Raceway | 10 – 12 June |
| 13, 14 |  |
Vila Real | 24 – 26 June |
| 15, 16 |  |
Termas de Río Hondo | 5 – 7 Aug |
| 17, 18 |  |
Twing Ring Motegi | 2 – 4 Sept |
| 19, 20 |  |
Shanghai | 23 – 25 Sept |
| 21, 22 |  |
Buriram | 4 – 6 Nov |
| 23, 24 |  |
Losail | 23 – 25 Nov |