It was not until March 1988 when their Bathurst disqualification was finalised that results were confirmed and Italian Schnitzer Motorsport driver Roberto Ravaglia in a BMW M3 was declared the champion.

The WTCC lasted only one year and was a victim of its own success — the FIA (and Bernie Ecclestone) feared it would take money away from Formula One and stopped sanctioning the Championship.

[citation needed] A silhouette formula championship (proposed by Ecclestone) was announced by the FIA for 1988 which would have seen specialist racing chassis carrying bodywork resembling production roadcars powered by the about to be outlawed Formula One 1.5 litre turbo regulations, but manufacturers did not support the concept.

In 2001, the European Touring Car Championship (ETCC) was resumed with support from the FIA, the precursor to the current WTCC.

In 2002, this evolved into the brand new FIA European Touring Car Championship, using Super 2000 rules, dominated by Alfa Romeo and BMW, but popular with the public due to the intense competition and Eurosport live broadcasts.

At the request of interested manufacturers, the ETCC was changed to the current WTCC beginning with the 2005 season, continuing to use Super 2000 and Diesel 2000 regulations.

This marked the first time an FIA sanctioned world championship, in any category, being won by a diesel powered racing car.

The modern series has held events based all around the world including races in Argentina, Morocco, Hungary, Germany, Russia, France, Portugal, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Japan, China, Thailand and Qatar with former races in Brazil, Great Britain, Italy, Macau, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United States.

[2] The WTCC uses Super 2000 and Diesel 2000 cars, as cost control is a major theme in the technical regulation.