All change in the WTCC for 2014

This winter, the World Touring Car Championship underwent its greatest transformation since the series rebooted in 2005.

The breadth of the technical revisions may fall short of Formula 1's 2014 overhaul in scope, but they are arguably as significant as the introduction of the previous Super 2000 class.

The new-for-2014 TC1 regulations are designed to address long-held criticisms by making the cars lighter, more powerful, more aggressive in appearance and faster.

Hogging the headlines, to the delight of French-based promoters Eurosport, has been the arrival of Sebastien Loeb and Citroen. The French marque has the upper hand on its rivals in preparation and testing miles, and the early signs are that nine-time World Rally champion Loeb will be an increasing factor as the season progresses.

Citroen's chief rival Honda goes into this weekend's Marrakech opener with "70 per cent of our development complete," according to former champion Gabriele Tarquini. Third works outfit Lada and RML have worked wonders just to get TC1 versions of their Granta and privately developed Cruze ready in time.

CARS GROW MUSCLES

After over a decade of S2000 machinery, the WTCC has a new look with the arrival of TC1 rules. Series chief Francois Ribeiro explains the philosophy:

"There were a lot of comments in the past that the WTCC was a very good championship but not spectacular enough. The racing was very good but the look of the cars was not at the limit.

"These cars are lighter, faster, they have muscles."

Sixteen cars built to TC1 regulations will be on the grid in Marrakech this weekend - three each from Citroen and Lada, plus six RML-build Chevrolets and four Hondas. Ribeiro predicts that number will rise to 18-19 by the end of the season.

He thinks that this weekend's Marrakech street event might be an anomaly, with the proof of the new formula coming at Paul Ricard on Easter weekend.

"We don't know how the show will be," Ribeiro admits.

"I hope we don't lose the closeness and the fighting spirit of the WTCC races, but definitely with more power, less weight and much more aero, the races will be different."

WHAT DO THE DRIVERS THINK?

Most drivers have given the cars a emphatic thumbs-up, although several drivers, including ex-champion Tarquini, have said they prefer to reserve judgement on the overall impact that new TC1 rules have on the championship until later in the season.

Lada ace James Thompson has no doubts: "What's not to like? For the fans who are passionate about their touring car racing, the cars look more aggressive, which makes them more fun.

"The BTCC evolved with NGTC. I think that has given a new lease of life to a fantastic championship. I hope the same thing happens to the WTCC."

Tom Chilton is unsure if the revamp will have a negative impact on the racing.

"The aero is more important than it used to be," he says. "The braking distances are a lot shorter, which I quite like as a driver as it is more challenging, but it could make the racing more boring, which I don't think is good for touring cars.

"It's swings and roundabouts. I don't know yet as I haven't run with other cars. Tiago Monteiro keeps tweeting '#sore neck' after testing, so maybe they are very quick in fast corners, we'll find out when we get to Paul Ricard.

"Fingers crossed that it is good close racing, as that is why I am a touring car driver and not a Le Mans driver."

Multiple champion Yvan Muller, who advised the FIA on the new rules, thinks TC1 is a good solution.

"Of course the result is not perfect, it can never be perfect," he says, "But with the cars' speed for this cost, we did something pretty good.

"Driveability is probably the same, just with a higher speed. One important thing is that the car has 40-50 per cent more downforce than in the past. That is something new to manage and not easy."

WHAT WILL LOEB ACHIEVE?

Citroen's advantage of starting its WTCC test programme six months in advance of the opposition will certainly help Loeb and team-mates Muller and Jose Maria Lopez. Wet weather and un-homologated cars clouded the picture regarding the relative competitiveness of Honda and Citroen at Paul Ricard, but Citroen's Valencia speed raised alarm bells.

Worryingly for his rivals, rally maestro Loeb claims to feel increasingly at ease in his new environment. Insiders, including Argentinian former TC2000 ace Lopez, believe it will take little time before Loeb is extracting maximum performance from his C-Elysee.

"I didn't really have any experience of front-wheel drive on a track and I didn't know how it was going to be but with these new regulations it is quite exciting to drive," offers Loeb. "It's fast, you brake late and carry a lot of speed into the corners, so it's not bad.

"I feel better and better, because I needed some time to get used to driving this kind of car and also the car improved.

"I would say the feeling is good, it's just very sensitive to the set-up. It's a much more complicated set-up than rallying."

But does Loeb's lack of experience make Muller a runaway favourite?

"Yvan has a lot of experience, so to work and improve the car it's good to have him with us," agrees Loeb.

"He's a good reference for me to try to improve my driving. I don't have a lot of experience in the races. I did a lot of rallies but it's so different."

WILL MARCELLO LOTTI'S EXIT AFFECT THE SERIES?

For many, Marcello Lotti was Mr WTCC, but the charismatic Italian is gone. Ribeiro, formerly director of motorsport business at Eurosport Events and a man whose manner naturally commands respect, takes over the running of the championship, alongside former Chevrolet Motorsport Europe boss Eric Neve.

"It was like the divorce of an old couple," offers Ribeiro. "The board of Eurosport had certain views. Marcello could not agree. The board of Eurosport wanted the management of the championship in-house and for Marcello to be an employee of Eurosport, not a third party. Marcello could not buy into this."

But Ribeiro is not planning a post-Lotti revolution.

"I spent 10 years working with him and I will not change my attitude whatsoever," he says.

Neve, who returns to the WTCC after a brief spell at HWA Mercedes, already has a strong relationship with Ribeiro to build on.

"What I can offer now is my experience with a manufacturer in the past," says Neve. "Also, I have been working very closely and very well with Francois over the years. We have been sharing the same philosophy."

WILL THE NEW REGULATIONS HURT INDEPENDENTS?

Following the boom years of the WTCC in the late noughties, there was a steady exodus of factory involvement, notably from BMW, SEAT and Chevrolet. The tide appears to have turned this year, but concerns have been raised over the potential impact of increased costs imposed by the TC1 rules on privateers.

Honda's WTCC veteran Gabriele Tarquini tells AUTOSPORT: "I think people are quite worried about the cost of TC1. There are a lot of areas such as aero development and windtunnel work needed, which can be expensive."

Honda is already supplying customer teams Proteam and Zengo, and its European motorsport boss William de Braekeleer emphasises that the series rules must "still make spectacular racing cars that are affordable to private teams."

The vastly experienced Alessandro Mariana of Honda's car builder and WTCC partner JAS is alert to the concerns, but confident that the TC1 rules are the right direction.

"The spirit of the championship is also to defend the interests of the small teams because in the difficult times, small teams or private teams allowed the WTCC to survive," says Mariana. "So we have to be very careful with the balance between show, the luxury approach and reality.

"The financial situation in the world is still not the best. Fortunately the regulations are quite stiff, so the development is quite controlled. It is not totally free, otherwise the costs explode, which is what happened in the past.

"Now I think the new step forward is a necessity because at the end we maintained the same spirit of the previous regulations but we made the car much more sexy, more powerful, with wider wheels, aero and reduced the weight.

"So at the end we can say it is surely more expensive than before, but perhaps we speak about 15 per cent to 20 per cent, not more."

Wiechers Sport and Bamboo Engineering have already withdrawn from this year's series, the former citing the difficulty of attracting drivers to potentially uncompetitive TC2 machinery.

Until more TC1 cars become available to private teams, the reality is they face a difficult choice between a competitive disadvantage from continuing with TC2 cars or increased expense of pursuing difficult-to-acquire TC1 cars.

CAN PRIVATEER CHEVROLETS BATTLE THE FACTORIES?

After four successive titles with its Cruze, RML has stepped back from operating as a race team in the WTCC this season. A heavily revised TC1 Cruze will be fielded by customer teams ROAL, Campos and Munnich.

Tom Chilton, who took his maiden WTCC victory in an RML-run Chevrolet Cruze last year, and claimed fifth in the drivers' standings, is perhaps best placed to offer an insight into the new car.

Chilton completed the shakedown of all six Cruze TC1s, but it was not until his ROAL team visited Adria last week that some of the potential of the car began to be unlocked.

"There are an awful lot of unknowns heading into the season," admits Chilton. "We have effectively done one race weekend's worth of testing with this brand new car, and we're up against Citroen who I think have done 20 race weekends, with the amount of tyres and fuel that they got through.

"They haven't been in the championship for the amount of years RML have, but they have done a lot of testing with the new car - and the car is very different.

"But there are only so many things that have changed. This Cruze has many fundamental carryovers from last year's TC2 car, which was a four-time championship winning car. So it is not a bad car to start from, and I think RML has done a great job.

"It might be Citroen just dominating, but I like to think if the cars are reasonably equal there is a chance I could be in the fight for pole."

CAN LADA RECOVER FROM A TROUBLED PRE-SEASON?

Lada has ramped up its WTCC effort for 2014 with the addition of a third car and 2012 world champion Rob Huff alongside its established top-liner James Thompson.

Early tests have been hit by reliability issues, not unexpected given a compressed time schedule to ready a new car.

"In four days of testing [at Magny-Cours], I was probably only doing a couple of laps a day," admitted Thompson to AUTOSPORT early in the programme.

"It is going to be a year of playing catch-up really, that's going to be the reality of it, you can't expect to hit the ground running and be competitive against someone who has done six months testing and development.

"Everyone is miles behind Citroen anyway, so it is going to be Citroen, then Honda and then probably Chevy and us who have probably done similar mileage.

"At the moment it is logical to expect that if you're the last person to run the car, that is effectively from where you are going to be starting."

Huff returned from a Mexican holiday to shakedown Thompson's car at Magny-Cours last Friday, and saw signs that the reliability had improved.

"We have had a few technical difficulties, but the guys seem to have overcome a lot of them," he says.

"The characteristic of the car is too early to say, but the engine is definitely stronger.

"We are a long way behind where we want to be, but when these regulations and plans come around as late as they have done, it is very hard to get things ready."

2014 WTCC calendar:

Apr 13 - Marrakech, Morocco
Apr 20 - Magny-Cours, France 
May 4 - Hungaroring, Hungary 
May 11 - Slovakiaring, Slovakia 
May 25 - Salzburgring, Austria 
Jun 8 - Moscow, Russia 
Jun 22 - Spa, Belgium 
Aug 3 - Rio Honda, Argentina 
Sep 14 - Sonoma, USA 
Oct 12 - Shanghai, China 
Oct 26 - Suzuka, Japan 
Nov 16 - Guia, Macau 

2014 WTCC line-up so far:

1   TC1   Yvan Muller           Citroen
2   TC1   Gabriele Tarquini     Honda
3   TC1   Tom Chilton           ROAL Chevrolet
4   TC1   Tom Coronel           ROAL Chevrolet
5   TC1   Norbert Michelisz     Zengo Honda
6   TC2T  Franz Engstler        Engstler BMW
7   TC1   Hugo Valente          Campos Chevrolet
8   TC2T  Pasquale di Sabatino  Engstler BMW
9   TC1   Sebastien Loeb        Citroen
10  TC1   Gianni Morbidelli     Munnich Chevrolet
11  TC1   James Thompson        Lada
12  TC1   Rob Huff              Lada
14  TC1   Mikhail Kozlowskiy    Lada
18  TC1   Tiago Monteiro        Honda
22  TC2T  Petr Fulin            Campos SEAT
25  TC1   Mehdi Bennani         Proteam Honda
27  TC2T  John Filippi          Campos SEAT
37  TC1   Jose Maria Lopez      Citroen
77  TC1   Rene Munnich          Munnich Chevrolet
98  TC1   Dusan Borkovic        Campos Chevrolet

Follow the first races of the WTCC's new era as they happen with AUTOSPORT Race Centre Live's coverage from Marrakech, beginning 4pm UK time on Sunday April 13 - and watch video highlights on the AUTOSPORT WTCC page