Eurosport Events, promoter of the World Touring Car Cup, has said the inaugural season of the motor-racing series will be live streamed on the website of its presenting partner, online automotive spare parts retailer Oscaro, and via social media platform Facebook.
The WTCR is set to debut this weekend with the Race of Morocco and Eurosport Events said the new three-races-per-weekend format has opened up new opportunities for digital media coverage, with the aim of enlarging audiences and further promoting the traditional television output.
With the World Touring Car Championship becoming the WTCR in 2018, new rules will mean an increase in on-track action with one extra qualifying session and one extra race timetabled.
While the traditional Sunday format of two quick-fire races remains, albeit with the addition of a qualifying session, racing will get underway on Saturday with what is an extra race and the first of three over the course of an event. Eurosport Events has pinpointed this as ideal for digital and social media channels.
From the season-opening Race of Morocco, First Qualifying and Race 1 will be available live at Oscaro.com in Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the USA.
With the exception of those key Oscaro markets and territories where live broadcasting agreements are in place with local networks, First Qualifying and Race 1 will be streamed on Facebook as part of plans to hit new markets and a younger audience. This coverage will also promote the broadcasting of Races 2 and 3 on television.
In addition, for most races, Free Practice 1 and Free Practice 2 will also be broadcast on Facebook worldwide with no restrictions.
The WTCR was launched in December following a licensing agreement between the WTCC and TCR series.