Japanese sports broadcaster J Sports has renewed its commitment to touring car racing by acquiring rights to the newly-formed World Touring Car Cup (WTCR).
The agreement covers the inaugural 2018 season of the WTCR, which has been formed following a licensing agreement between the World Touring Car Championship and TCR series.
The deal is an extension of J Sports’ relationship with Eurosport Events, promoter of the WTCR, with the broadcaster having previously held rights to the WTCC.
J Sports will broadcast live coverage from all 10 WTCR events this season across its television and digital platforms. As often as possible, Race 2 and Race 3 will be televised live and made available digitally. Race 1 will be available live on J Sports’ digital output. The broadcaster will also air a season review.
François Ribeiro, head of Eurosport Events, said: “Japan is an extremely important market to the WTCR and its stakeholders and by reaching 6.8 million households in the country, J Sports is very important to the WTCR. J Sports broadcast all 20 FIA World Touring Car Championship races live last season and they clearly welcomed the high-quality TV product and level for service.”
The WTCR will visit Japan for its penultimate race of the 2018 season, with Suzuka playing host from October 26-28.