World tin-tops to race on Muller home ground

The World Touring Car Cup has continued its quest for unusual venues by fixing a date for the little-known Anneau du Rhin circuit in France on 6-7 August.

Following last year’s visit to the picturesque Pau-arnos track in the south-west of France, WTCR will now venture to the Alsace homeland of uncle-nephew world tin-top champions Yvan Muller and

Yann Ehrlacher. The 2.25-mile Anneau du Rhin layout (right) is inspired by Paul Ricard, but thankfully is surrounded by trees rather than horrid blue lines. Caroline Bugatti, granddaughter of Bugatti founder Ettore, is a board member at the circuit.

That round comes two weeks after a stop-off in Italy at Vallelunga. That circuit, north of Rome, was a regular fixture for the European Touring Car Championship – a forerunner of the WTCR – in the 1970s and 1980s.

The changes have been forced upon WTCR promoter Discovery Sports Events by the cancellations of the events at Sochi in Russia and Most in the Czech Republic, with the latter nation on alert following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.