15.10.2004 As the provisional calendar is unveiled an exciting new dawn awaits Alfa Romeo AND the other prospective teams planning to contest the 2005 World Touring Car Championship

The FIA World Motor Sport Council has released the new provisional calendar for the 2005 FIA World Touring Car Championship, which will be made up of ten race meetings.

Compared to the provisional calendar that was released at the end of June, Mexico has now replaced Argentina; however, while the Argentine round was scheduled as the season’s opening, the Mexican one will now be held at the end of June.

Just like this year's FIA European Touring Car Championship, next year's WTCC will once again kick off at Monza in Italy, sharing the bill with the FIA GT Championship.

The Mexican meeting will take place in Puebla, on a racetrack that is going to be extensively rebuilt prior to next summer.

Other new venues for are Istanbul – the same racetrack that will host the first Formula 1 Turkish Grand Prix – and the prestigious Macau street circuit, which has now been confirmed as the closing date of the season.

Other features regarding the FIA WTCC approved by the World Council included the confirmation of the current FIA ETCC race format of two back-to-back 50km races per event, while the obligation for drivers to wear the FIA-approved Hans head restraint will come in from 1st January 2006.

The establishment of a Permanent Bureau of the Touring Car Commission to prevent cost escalation in the Championship is another new feature decided by the World Motor Sports Council at their meeting;.

The members of this Bureau are Jonathan Ashman, President of the FIA Touring Car Commission, Gabriele Cadringher, President of the FIA Manufacturers’ Commission, and Jacques Berger, President of the FIA Technical Commission.