20 drivers on the 2015 WTCC entry list
The 2015 FIA World Touring Car Championship entry list has been released, featuring 20 drivers and eleven teams.
“The WTCC family has been very active since Macau last November to field a full TC1 grid. From approximately 15 TC1 cars in 2014, when the grid was shared with the old TC2 cars, we now have 20 TC1s entered, and we expect Campos Racing to enter their third car on an event-by-event basis, so that all existing 21 TC1 cars on the market will be racing in the WTCC,” said François Ribeiro, General Manager of the WTCC.
Citroën has expanded their team to four cars with drivers José María López, Yvan Muller, Sébastien Loeb and Ma Qing Hua, while the new WTCC team Sébastien Loeb Racing will field one independent Citroën for Mehdi Bennani.
Honda wil run two cars for Gabriele Tarquini and Tiago Monteiro while three independent teams will be on the grid in the form of Zengő Motorsport with Norbert Michelisz, Proteam Racing with Dušan Borković and Nika Racing with Rickard Rydell, although Rydell will not be eligible for the Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy.
Lada will be represented by three brand new Vestas for Rob Huff, James Thompson and Mikhail Kozlovskiy. The team are not present at the Barcelona test and media launch, instead testing at their base in Magny-Cours ahead of the opening round in Argentina.
A total of seven independent Chevrolet Cruzes will be on the grid with teams Münnich Motorsport, Campos Racing, Craft Bamboo Engineering and ROAL Motorsport.
”We welcome three new and returning teams, drivers from 14 countries when the second driver from ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport is announced, while the brand new yellow LADA Vestas built by ORECA will also be appearing on the grid. ‘Catch me if you can’: let’s see who will be best positioned to challenge Citroën and José María López, the reigning world champions,” said Ribeiro.
The list could be expanded to 21 cars as information to TouringCarTimes suggests that Campos Racing will add a third new-build Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 later during the season.
2015 FIA World Touring Car Championship Entry List
No – Driver – Nat – Team – Car
2 – Gabriele Tarquini – ITA – Honda Racing Team JAS – Honda Civic WTCC
3 – Tom Chilton* – GBR – ROAL Motorsport – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1
4 – Tom Coronel* – NED – ROAL Motorsport – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1
5 – Norbert Michelisz* – HUN – Zengő Motorsport – Honda Civic WTCC
7 – Hugo Valente* – FRA – Campos Racing – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1
9 – Sébastien Loeb – FRA – Citroën Total WTCC – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
11 – Grégoire Demoustier* – FRA – Craft-Bamboo – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1
12 – Rob Huff – GBR – Lada Sport Rosneft – Lada Vesta
14 – Mikhail Kozlovskiy – RUS – Lada Sport Rosneft – Lada Vesta
15 – James Thompson – GBR – Lada Sport Rosneft – Lada Vesta
18 – Tiago Monteiro – POR – Honda Racing Team JAS – Honda Civic WTCC
19 – Rickard Rydell – SWE – Nika International – Honda Civic WTCC
25 – Mehdi Bennani* – MOR – Sébastien Loeb Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
26 – Stefano D’Aste* – ITA – Münnich Motorsport – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1
27 – John Filippi* – FRA – Campos Racing – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1
33 – Ma Qing Hua – CHN – Citroën Total WTCC – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
37 – José María López – ARG – Citroën Total WTCC – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
68 – Yvan Muller – FRA – Citroën Total WTCC – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
98 – Dusan Borkovic* – SRB – Proteam Racing – Honda Civic WTCC
TBC – TBC* – TBC – Münnich Motorsport – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1
* = Eligible for Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy