With the demise of WTCR at the end of 2022, the TCR World Tour was introduced to fill its position as the top level international touring car series. The most obvious change for this new championship was the format of the calendar. Rather than holding standalone events, rounds would see the TCR World Tour join up with an existing national or regional TCR series.
This gave drivers in these championships the opportunity to test themselves against the best TCR drivers in the world, and helped give the TCR World Tour quite an exciting inaugural calendar; visits to Spa, Bathurst and Macau being the main highlights.
While only nine drivers contested the full World Tour schedule, all drivers in each round were eligible for points. The World Tour drivers weren’t eligible for points in the national or regional championships, however. The combined fields meant there were generally quite large grids, and several of the local drivers managed to take on and beat the World Tour regulars.
As well as the World Tour, a companion event called the TCR World Ranking Final was planned but never held. The original concept of the World Tour - joining up with existing national or regional series - has been lost to some degree with time, as many standalone rounds have been held. The very limited full season entry list makes for a weird championship to follow, but the racing is as entertaining as ever.