The 2022 World Touring Car Cup was the fifth and final season of the World Touring Car Cup and 18th overall of the series, which dates back to the 2005 World Touring Car Championship. The season began on 7 May at the Circuit de Pau-Ville and ended on 27 November in Jeddah Corniche Circuit,[1][2][3] however multiple event cancellations due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and ongoing quarantine restrictions in Asia. On 1 September 2022, the organiser announced the final version of the calendar, adding Bahrain and Saudi Arabia as final venues for the 2022 season.[3]
The season was marred by issues with tyres as drivers suffered numerous tyre failures on several rounds. These led to the cancellation of the races at the Nürburgring and Cyan Racing withdrawing from the series midway through the year.[4] Only nine drivers completed the full season.[5]
On 14 October 2022, the promoter Discovery Sports Events announced that after five seasons of running the WTCR, the series would be discontinued following the conclusion of the season, which had two rounds remaining in Bahrain (10–12 November) and Saudi Arabia (25–27 November).[6]. This resulted in TCR global rights holder WSC Group creating a new format, known as the TCR World Tour, influenced by golf's Official World Golf Ranking, in that all TCR events will be grouped for official TCR World Ranking points, which will be used to qualify drivers into a playoff at the end of the season, and a new format featuring events from different TCR-featured tours where drivers can also qualify for the TCR World Ranking Final.[7]