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José María López confirmed to leave WTCC for Formula E in 2017

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José María López has been confirmed to leave the World Touring Car Championship after the current season to join Sam Bird with DS Virgin Racing in the FIA Formula E Championship, as we reported last month.

“This is a really exciting move for me and I’m looking forward to the challenge of Formula E with DS Virgin Racing,” said López.

“I have already had some experience working with the DS Performance team on the season three car, so I am confident that we can achieve great things together next season.”

Lopéz, the reigning double WTCC champion and current championship leader, will return to single-seaters for the first time since 2006 when here raced for Super Nova in GP2.

“Jose is a fantastic addition to DS Virgin Racing, he’s a world-class driver that has dominated WTCC for the past two seasons and is currently leading the ongoing season,” said Xavier Mestelan Pinon, Head of DS Performance, and the former technical head of the Citroen WTCC team.

“He has worked with us closely at DS Performance on our season three car. After gaining third position in the teams’ championship for our first year in Formula E, we believe that he and Sam will form a strong partnership and make it possible to fight for the overall championship next season.”