36 cars entered for opening round of the ETCC

A record 36 cars have been entered for the first round of the FIA European Touring Car Cup for the opening round at Monza on March 24th.

The grid features 17 cars in the Super 2000 category, nine in the Super 1600 class, all of which are Ford Fiestas, and 10 in the Single-Make Trophy for SEAT León Supercopa cars.

Last year’s S2000 class champion, Fernando Monje, will be racing in the WTCC this season so no one will carry No.1. So Swiss driver Peter Rikli, who finished runner up last year, will carry No.2 on his Honda Civic FD (saloon shape). Rikli will also have a team-mate in fellow Swiss driver Andrina Gugger, one of three drivers eligible for the Ladies Trophy.

Nicolas Hamilton, the half-brother of Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton, has been entered in a SEAT León run by Baporo Motorsport, and is the only British driver on the ETCC entry list.

Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport will run two cars for Ibrahim Okyay and Aytaç Biter, whilst Liqui Moly Team Engstler will run two BMW 320sis for 2010 ADAC Procar champion Roland Hertner, and Christian Fischer, who moves across from Rikli Motorsport.

Krenek Motorsport return to the ETCC this year. The team ran an ex-Wiechers-Sport BMW 320si for Petr Fulín last year who took one victory at the Slovakiaring. Fulín returns and will be joined by Michal Matejovský, who also won a race at the Slovakiaring last year whilst driving with SUNRED Engineering.

SUNRED Engineering, now as Campos Racing, will field three cars in the ETCC. Two S2000-spec Leóns for Igor Skuz and Wolfgang Treml, and one Supercopa for Gianni Giudici in the Single-Make Trophy class.

Last year’s S1600 champion Kevin Krammes returns to defend his title. In the S1600 class there are nine entries, many repeat entries from last year. The class now solely consists of Ford Fiesta S1600 cars after the departure of Maurer Motorsport and their Chevrolet Aveos from the Cup.

Ulrike Krafft also returns in S1600 with the Ravenol Team, and along with Ksenya Niks at the M-Sport team, and Gugger in the Rikli Civic, will be the competing trio for the new Ladies Trophy.

Last year’s Single-Make Trophy champion does not return, but runner-up Andreas Pfister does. The German will face tough competition in the class, with Jordi Oriola entered with Tuenti Racing Team, two cars entered by Zengõ Motorsport for Ferenc Ficza and Norbert Nágy, and with Super Production class champion Nikolay Karamyshev competing for Papa’s Racing Team, after the Super Production category was removed from the ETCC for this year.

FIA European Touring Car Cup – Monza 2013 Entry List

No – Driver – Nat – Team – Car – Class
2 – Peter Rikli – SUI – Rikli Motorsport – Honda Civic FD – S2000
4 – Igor Skuz – UKR – Campos Racing – SEAT León TFSI – S2000
5 – Roland Hertner – GER – Liqui Moly Team Engstler – BMW 320si – S2000
6 – Christian Fischer – SUI – Liqui Moly Team Engstler – BMW 320si – S2000
9 – Mat’o Homola – SVK – Homola Motorsport – BMW 320si – S2000
10 – Andrina Gugger* – SUI – Rikli Motorsport – Honda Civic FD – S2000
11 – Nicolas Hamilton – GBR – Baporo Motorsport – SEAT León TFSI – S2000
12 – Dušan Borkovic – SRB – Nis Petrol Racing Team – SEAT León TFSI – S2000
13 – Ibrahim Okyay – TUR – Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport – BMW 320si – S2000
14 – Aytaç Biter – TUR – Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport – BMW 320si – S2000
15 – Roman Golikov – RUS – AMG Motorsport – BMW 320si – S2000
16 – Oleg Chebotarev – RUS – AMG Motorsport – BMW 320si – S2000
17 – Mikhail Grachev – RUS – AMG Motorsport – BMW 320si – S2000
18 – Oleg Petrikov – RUS – AMG Motorsport – BMW 320si – S2000
19 – Wolfgang Treml – AUT – Campos Racing – SEAT León TFSI – S2000
20 – Michal Matejovský – CZE – Krenek Motorsport – BMW 320si – S2000
22 – Petr Fulín – CZE – Krenek Motorsport – BMW 320si – S2000

31 – Kevin Krammes – GER – Ravenol Team – Ford Fiesta – S1600
33 – Ulrike Krafft* – GER – Ravenol Team – Ford Fiesta – S1600
35 – Gilles Bruckner – LUX – Team LuxMotor – Ford Fiesta ST – S1600
36 – Klaus Bingler – GER – ATM Racing – Ford Fiesta – S1600
37 – Ksenya Niks* – UKR – M-Sport – Ford Fiesta – S1600
38 – Erwin Lukas – GER – Ravenol Team – Ford Fiesta – S1600
39 – Oleksander Ivanchenko – UKR – Master KR Racing – Ford Fiesta – S1600
40 – Anton Zaitsev – UKR – Master KR Racing – Ford Fiesta – S1600
41 – Luciano Romeo – ITA – Ravenol Team – Ford Fiesta – S1600

52 – Andreas Pfister – GER – Pfister Racing – SEAT León Supercopa – SMT
54 – Nikolay Karamyshev – RUS – Papa’s Racing Team – SEAT León Supercopa – SMT
55 – Ferenc Ficza – HUN – Zengõ Junior Team – SEAT León Supercopa – SMT
56 – Norbert Nágy – HUN – Zengõ Junior Team – SEAT León Supercopa – SMT
57 – Jordi Oriola – ESP – Tuenti Racing Team – SEAT León Supercopa – SMT
58 – Anton Ladygin – RUS – SMP Racing Russian Bears – SEAT León Supercopa – SMT
59 – Mikhail Maleev – RUS – SMP Racing Russian Bears – SEAT León Supercopa – SMT
60 – Aurélien Comte – FRA – Galaxi Racing – SEAT León Supercopa – SMT
61 – Mario Dablander – AUT – HRS Motorsport – SEAT León Supercopa – SMT
62 – Gianni Giudici – ITA – Campos Racing – SEAT León Supercopa – SMT

* = Eligible for the Ladies Trophy