Just 16 cars to race in WTCC this season.
The FIA World Touring Car Championship announced the entry list for the upcoming 2017 season which features the lowest car count in the series’ history.
The 16-car field will be made of six works entries from Honda and Volvo and ten privateer entries, two of which are yet to confirm their full season commitment.
Honda’s factory outfit will enter cars for two familiar WTCC veterans Tiago Monteiro and Norbert Michelisz and for the WTCC rookie Ryō Michigami, a former Super GT champion.
Volvo retained only Thed Björk from last year’s line-up and added Nicky Catsburg and Néstor Girolami to the team.
After the works Citroën team left the scene, all four French cars will be run by privateer outfits. The one most likely to fight for the title is Münnich Motorsport, with Rob Huff as a star driver. The Sébastien Loeb’s team retained Tom Chilton and Mehdi Bennani and added John Filippi to the line-up.
Filippi’s old team Campos Racing made an unlikely return and signed an Argentinean star Esteban Guerrieri. However, the deal at this stage is only signed for half of the season’s ten rounds. The other Chevrolet RML will be driven by Tom Coronel, who remained in the ROAL Motorsport team.
Hungarian outfit Zengő Motorsport will field two Hondas once again. Young Dániel Nagy is the team’s protégé, while Oliver Panis’ son Aurélien will for sure bring some attention. The only new-to-WTCC team on the grid is RC Motorsport, which will field two ex-factory LADA Vestas. The squad will be led by Yvan Muller’s nephew Yann Ehrlacher, while the second driver is yet to be announced.
There are less than four weeks left until the 2017 season kicks off in Marrakech.
FIA WTCC FULL SEASON ENTRY LIST 2017
Team
Driver (Nationality)
Car
Sébastien Loeb Racing
Tom Chilton (GBR) T
Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team
Norbert Michelisz (HUN)
Honda Civic WTCC
Zengő Motorsport
Aurélien Panis (FRA) T
Honda Civic WTCC
ROAL Motorsport
Tom Coronel (NLD) T
Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport
Rob Huff (GBR) T
Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team
Tiago Monteiro (PRT)
Honda Civic WTCC
Sébastien Loeb Racing
Mehdi Bennani (MAR) T
Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
Sébastien Loeb Racing
John Filippi (FRA) T
Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team
Ryo Michigami (JPN)
Honda Civic WTCC
61
Polestar Cyan Racing
Néstor Girolami (ARG)
Volvo S60 Polestar TC1
62
Polestar Cyan Racing
Thed Björk (SWE)
Volvo S60 Polestar TC1
63
Polestar Cyan Racing
Nicky Catsburg (NLD)
Volvo S60 Polestar TC1
68
RC Motorsport
Yann Ehrlacher (FRA) T
LADA Vesta
–
Campos Racing
Esteban Guerrieri (ARG) T
Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1
Zengő Motorsport
Dániel Nagy (HUN) T
Honda Civic WTCC
–
RC Motorsport
TBA
LADA Vesta
T = Indicates WTCC Trophy contender
Tomasz Kubiak
Twitter: @tomekkubiak
Images courtesy of FIA WTCC (c)