Pepe Oriola set to switch to Chevrolet from Portugal

Tuenti Racing Team driver Pepe Oriola is set to switch to a third car run by RML from the next round of the World Touring Car Championship, according to reports in the Spanish media.

The 18-year-old was runner-up in last year’s Yokohama Trophy, and took his first career victory earlier this season at Marrakech, becoming the youngest ever winner of an FIA sanctioned race.

Mundo Deportivo reports that the Spaniard’s arrangement with the SUNRED Engineering team, which have run his WTCC and European Touring Car Cup campaign since 2011, is set to end this weekend in Moscow, with the Tuenti Racing banner moving across to a third car at the British-run RML squad alongside Yvan Muller and Tom Chilton.

If Oriola does move to RML, it would seem to be a bad omen in respect of SEAT’s return to the Championship, with which Oriola has a strong relationship. The Spanish marque has already indicated that a new car would be unlikely to be ready for the start of the 2014 season even if the new Super 2000 regulations were given the go-ahead later this month.