Ballast rules set to change.

The ballast rules within the World Touring Car Championship are set to be revised during the 2008 campaign in an effort to make the entire system easier to follow.

Currently, each driver receives 10 kilos of ballast in the first event they compete in, with that ballast then going up or down depending on positions in the two events held on each race weekend. Extra ballast is also awarded for every ten points scored in the championship.

It had led to confusion amongst fans as to exactly which driver is carrying which ballast, although FIA Touring Car Commission president Jonathan Ashman has revealed that that could all be about to change.

"What we have been looking at is simplifying the system a little bit as, at the moment, it is a bit difficult to understand," he told Crash.net Radio. "At the end of each race, it isn't something you can work out quickly in your mind and I have to sit and wait until someone has done the calculations before I know as there are so many variables. We wanted something simpler and also something where, if you have success, it will hit you for the next race but it won't carry on for too long.

"It isn't 100 per cent sure, but the system we are looking at is one we looked at for this year and then at the last minute we didn't go with, but I think we will be a bit bolder this time. For every point you score in the series, you will put on a kilo - so that will be the championship side of it and be very simple. There will be no coming off of that weight and it is nice and easy to understand. In addition, there would be a race weight penalty, so whoever wins at Brands Hatch, for example, would get 30 kilos of penalty that would only count for the next race and then it would be off again. It would be very easy then for people to work out and it would probably be the top six people who would be affected in each race. It would be easy to remember and from the simulations we have done it works very well as what we want to do is build up to the end of the year where the top guys are on the same weight and it is down to who is the best driver in the best car on the day.

"But the beauty of the system is it closes the field up as it helps the slower people to get closer which is what we want to make the races good."

Ashman was speaking at the unveiling of the provisional calendar for the 2008 campaign, which will feature events in both Japan and Mexico and a switch of the Portuguese race from the streets of Porto to the former grand prix venue at Estoril.

"It really goes along with what we have been planning for a long time, to gently, gently make the series more global," he said when asked for his thoughts on the calendar. "Certainly the original plan was to slowly expand it and Japan is somewhere we wanted to go for a long time because we keep getting interest from the Japanese manufacturers - but no-one has committed yet. Yokohama were keen to go to Japan and with their help, it is on the calendar which is the most significant addition."

Ashman also confirmed that there were two possibilities to host the Mexican venue, with the possibility that a decision will be made in the near future.

"Either Mexico City or Monterey," he said. "The promoter makes the choice where we go as it is a commercial matter similar to Formula 1. The original Monterey that people know doesn't exist anymore and there is a different track, so we need to work with the FIA to homologate the track and ensure it is safe. The Mexican people are coming to Brands Hatch for a meeting this weekend so we should know where we stand more."