http://www.motorspor...da-wtcc-switch/
It seems Huff could switch to a three car Honda factory effort alongside Monteiro and Michelisz!
Lada wanted to retain their current line-up but if this is true plus the fact that Catsburg is joining Porsche in the USC and would be forced to miss a couple of WTCC rounds as calendars collide (if I'm not mistaken) plus the fact that N. Girolami has already signed to race in Stock Car Brasil leave the Russians in a weird position.
So far:
FACTORY ENTRIES:
Citroen Total (Citroen C-Elysee): José María López (confirmed) / Yvan Muller (confirmed)
Honda (Honda Civic): Tiago Monteiro (likely) / Norbert Michelisz (likely, car run by Zengo?) / Rob Huff (rumoured)
Lada Sport Rosneft (Lada Vesta): Rob Huff (was supposed to stay) / Nick Catsburg (likely) / Nico Lapierre (likely).
Polestar Cyan Racing (Volvo S60): Thed Björk (confirmed) / Fredrik Ekblom (confirmed)
INDEPENDENT ENTRIES:
Sebastien Loeb Racing (Citroen C-Elysee): Mehdi Bennani (confirmed) / Gregoire Demoustier (confirmed) / Tom Chilton (rumoured)
Zengo Motorsport (Honda Civic): They may well run Michelisz's factory entry for next season (they were already and almost-works team). BUT if JAS only will run three factory Civics and Zengo doesn't lose sponsorship because of the Hungarian star leaving, they could run some new young Hungarian like Ferenc Ficza, Norbert Toth, etc. I just don't imagine them leaving the series, specially considering how succesful they've been lately and that last season this seemed to be their only important full time program (they raced part-time in TCR, ETCC and Seat León Supercopa).
NIKA Racing (Honda Civic): Rickard Rydell (possible, thou it's weird they didn't announced him at the event where they announced their plans for 2016 so it could be someone else. It's not known if they have enough budget for a full season by themselves SO that could lead to a pay driver like Hugo Valente, who was looking forward to move from the RML cars, to join)
ROAL Motorsport (Chevrolet-RML Cruze): Apparently they will continue ONLY if they can run two cars. Tom Coronel wants to stay but if they can´t find him a new teammate (Tom Chilton is most certainly leaving probably to SLR) he would switch to René Munnich's squad.
Campos Racing (Chevrolet-RML Cruze): They might not continue in TCR as Opel seems to have chosen Target Competition over them to run their Astras, so they are likely to stay in WTCC. John Filippi owns his own Chevy and he could stay receiving Campos' assistance. Hugo Valente could stay if he doesn't find anywhere better to go. They have another car available thou it's most likely to be entered on a race by race basis like they did with Homola, Sritrai and Al-Attiyah last season.
ALL-INKL.COM Munnich Motorsports (Chevrolet-RML Cruze): René Munnich confirmed to return but only on a race by race basis. The full time car would go to Tom Coronel if ROAL leaves the championship. No news on what is Stefano D'Aste going to do.
Craft-Bamboo: Most likely to quit. They don't even own the car they raced last season (it's Demoustier's)
Lada wanted to continue a three car factory program (they are building new chassis as last season's were a bit damaged and hindered their performances) and did not discard the chance of lending some car to a privateer.
Ribeiro announced there's a new manufacturer developing a TC1 car for 2017. It would be Kia. They would run Hyundai's WRC engine upgraded to TC1 power standards (as Citroen does)
Calendar:
May start at Sochi as the attendance at Moscow has been dismal. More here
Race format: Race 1 will be the reverse grid race now. Race 2 will be the "main race" and will last one lap longer that race 1 except at the Nordschleife (I got enthusiastic when they announced a longer race 2 and obviously disappointed when they confirmed it will be only ONE lap longer). Oh, and we will have the bike-inspired MAC-3 on Saturdays after qualy (Volvo would not be able to participate as they will feature only 2 cars on the grid). It will give points only for the manufacturers championship. I understand it will go on for three laps where a team of 3 cars from the same manufacturer would have to work together to cover the distance as quickly as possible. I suppose it will last only for one lap at the Nurburgring.
Especially when you're a wtcc noob like me. I dunno. Also there was a different commentator for the hungary races, which might have been a factor in the enjoyment as well.
