FIA WMSC in St Petersburg ratifies 2019 calendar

05. December 2018It’s that time of year when the FIA holds its grand prizegiving gala in one of the world’s great metropolises - this year in St Petersburg, Russia, where the FIA Annual General Assembly is being held.
The primary agenda is to fête the winners of the individual FIA championships. Jochen Hahn, five-times topper in the European Truck Racing Championship, will of course be among them.
But it’s not all celebration - a fair bit of work will also get done in St Petersburg. The highest FIA committee, the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC), has a number of important decisions to make, one of which is approving the calendars for next year that are placed before it by the respective commissions of the various series.
For a second season running, the FIA European Truck Racing Championship will have eight rounds – a proposed ninth weekend in the UK is no longer in prospect. The draft released by the FIA lists only the Sundays, although truck racing weekends are at least two days long, in most cases three.

26 May, Italy, Misano
23 June, Hungary, Hungaroring
07 July, Slovakia, Slovakiaring
21 July, Germany, Nürburgring
01 September, Czech Republic, Most
15 September, Belgium, Zolder
29 September, France, Le Mans 24 Heures
06 October, Spain, Jarama

One of the decisions of the WMSC as concerns truck racing apparently seeks to specify a standard fuel for all participants. The official statement reads: “The FIA has launched a call for expressions of interest for a single fuel supplier with the goal of identifying a fuel that complies with the technical requirements, but with a specification that drastically reduces/limits the emission of smoke. The offers received will be carefully considered by the Truck Racing Commission for final decision before the start of the 2019 season.”
What will come of this remains to be seen, especially considering that teams may have a different petroleum company as a supplier or sponsor.