Title-winning German Timo Scheider will contest the deciding rounds of the inaugural WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup presented by OSCARO, driving a third Honda Civic Type R TCR for ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport.
Scheider, 39, is a two-time DTM champion, current works BMW GT driver and part of ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport’s FIA World Rallycross Championship effort
He will partner Yann Ehrlacher (France) and Esteban Guerrieri (Argentina). They will race in the China WTCR OSCARO double-header in Ningbo and Wuhan. Then it will be the turn of WTCR Race of Japan at Suzuka (26-28 October), plus the Macau season finale (15-18 November).
“We’ve brought Timo into our team for the last four rounds of the championship, as we believe he’ll really bolster our challenge for the FIA World Touring Car Cup title,” saidALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Team Manager Dominik Greiner.
“He has tremendous experience in touring cars. The main focus for him is the season finale in Macau, so the next three rounds in China and Japan will be more about preparation, as he won’t be able to test the car beforehand as they’re already in transit to Ningbo in China.”
Scheider, who raced in the DTM for 16 seasons, will be in action for ALL-INKL.COMMünnich Motorsport at Latvia’s World RX event in Riga this weekend (14-16 September). He will then make his WTCR OSCARO debut at WTCR Race of China-Ningbo from 28-30 September.
“We’ve worked well together in rallycross, and it seemed a natural choice as well as a perfect fit to bring him into our touring car team as we fight to win the first WTCR – World Touring Car Cup title with Yann and Esteban,” Greiner added.
Scheider takes over the Honda Civic Type R TCR James Thompson used to complete his five-event WTCR OSCARO schedule with the team
It has three wins in the championship so far.
“It will be a hard challenge for me to join the championship in the middle of the year without any experience,” said Scheider. “But due to the fact that I like new challenges I will give it all to get it done as good as possible. I have no experience of any of the tracks, unfortunately, but I will be supporting my team, having fun, making my first experience with a front-wheel-driven car and finally making my debut in Macau.”
François Ribeiro, Head of Eurosport Events, the WTCR OSCARO promoter, said: “We are delighted to welcome a driver with such strong pedigree in touring car, which will only increase the level of competition and prospect of more great racing. It was great to get René Rast as a wildcard for WTCR Race of Germany, and now we look forward to welcome Timo to our WTCR Asian tour.”
