Comtoyou Racing confirms four Audis for Bennani, Coronel, Berthon and Magnus
Comtoyou Racing will be back on the FIA WTCR grid for the 2022 season with four Audi RS 3 LMS race cars for drivers Mehdi Bennani, Tom Coronel, Gilles Magnus and Nathanaël Berthon.
“Since the beginning of Comtoyou Racing, with Jean Michel, it has been our aim to focus on continuity and loyalty with our drivers and partners,” said Francois Verbist, team manager of Comtoyou Racing.
“This is why I’m delighted to be present in the WTCR for the fifth consecutive season, with Audi Sport as main partner.”
The team’s driver line-up remains the same from 2021, bar the return of Moroccan driver Bennani who replaces last year’s runner-up Frédéric Vervisch.
“To be able to continue working with Gilles, Nathanaël and Tom was a logical option,” said Verbist.
“I’m also very happy with our fourth driver, because in 2020 we claimed the title in TCR Europe with Mehdi. Our pre-season tests went well and I’m satisfied with the work put in by our technical team and the performances of my four drivers. I cannot wait to start battling it out in the streets of Pau.”
Bennani, who claimed the 2020 TCR Europe title for Comtoyou Racing, raced for Sebastien Loeb Racing last year in TCR Europe, finishing fifth overall.
His last WTCR outing was 2019, finishing 25th for SLR.
“The drivers are going to be almost like when I left, but all the grid is very strong, it’s very difficult to say one of the drivers on the grid is slower than the other, they are almost as one fighting together, all trying to get the win,” Bennani said.
“But to do well, it’s about being consistent and being clean to score a lot of points, you also need a lot of luck, that’s it.
“But what is nice in WTCR is that you have all the grid always there [on the pace]. You see the grid and you see the top 16 or 17 are within one second. Sometimes you could inverse the grid and the guy who is P16 can be on pole in the next race.”
The Comtoyou Racing Audi entry brings the so far confirmed number of cars on the 2022 FIA WTCR grid to 15.
“We want to continue the successful streak of the Audi RS 3 LMS in 2022,” said Chris Reinke, Head of Audi Sport customer racing.
“Three race wins, twelve podium places, four times first on the grid, six fastest laps and the contribution of these successes to the ‘TCR Model of the Year’ convey a clear message. With Comtoyou Racing as a reliable and competent partner, we are banking on continuity.”
