Kristian Poulsen to do full season in 2009

After racing only selected rounds of the 2008 FIA World Touring Car Championship, Kristian Poulsen today announced that he will enter a full 2009 FIA World Touring Car Championship season. Kristian Poulsen and Franz Engstler will be the 2009 Engstler Motorsport WTCC line up.

“I have signed a contract with Engstler Motorsport, where I will drive all 24 WTCC races in one of the teams BMW 320si,“ a happy Kristian Poulsen declares.

Kristian will be the first Dane ever to enter a full WTCC season.
“I have only been driving circuit racing for two years, so it will be an enormous challenge, which I am really looking forward to.”

His circuit racing career started in the 2007 Danish Touring Car Championship, after a long career in international rallying, taking third in the ETC Cup in his first try.

Kristian Poulsen will partner the 46 year old Engstler, who was the runner up in the WTCC privateer championship of 2008. In the eigth races where Poulsen and Engstler ran against one another, Poulsen made it over the line first in the five, against Engstler´s three. Poulsen secured 32 world championship points, while Engstler made 35 points.

“I got to know Franz Engstler while driving the World championship this year, and he seemed like a nice guy. For the European Touring Car Championship, he rented a car from us, because his own cars were in transit to Japan. And now I will rent a car from him,” said Poulsen.

Poulsen will be followed by his English race engineer Daniel Alexander for all WTCC races.

At BMW´s international priceevent held in Munich, Poulsen was celebrated as the sixth most moneyprice winning driver, while Franz Engstler won the biggest amount of pricemoney from all BMW´s privateer drivers.

“It has been going pretty good this year, but I believe that next year will bring even more progress,” said Poulsen.