FIA GT1 World Champions All-Inkl.com Munnich Motorsport have confirmed they will enter the World Touring Car Championship this season with a trio of SEAT Leons.
World champion drivers Marc Basseng and Markus Winkelhock will drive two of the cars, with team owner Rene Munnich behind the wheel of the third.
35-year-old Munnich sampled the WTCC by driving the second Special Tuning Racing SEAT at the Suzuka round last year. His racing background is as a successful rallycross competitor in Germany, and he also runs the All-Inkl.com web hosting service that gives its name to the team.
Basseng, 44, is also the team manager of the outfit. He raced mainly in GTs before winning the world title, but did win the Renault Clio Cup in Germany ten years ago.
32-year-old Winkelhock is perhaps best known for leading the only Formula 1 race he started, with Spyker in 2007 at the Nurburgring. He raced Audis in the DTM between 2007 and 2010, and has touring car pedigree in the family as the nephew of former British champion Joachim Winkelhock.
“After our successfully concluded GT1 project, we now focus on a new challenge in the World Touring Car Championship,” said Munnich. “SEAT is the logical partner for us. The car promises absolute reliability and has always been competitive.
“We will prepare ourselves the best possible way and have an experienced team. The entry into the WTCC is for Munnich Motorsport the absolute right step. We have already last year attended two races in the WTCC to learn the processes. The foundation for success lies certainly also in that we cannot be surprised. The whole team is looking forward to the new season with this great challenge.”
The team expects to take delivery of its three cars in late January/early February before it goes testing in Spain.
In preparation for its transition to touring cars, the team took part in the Dubai 24 Hours last week with a SEAT Leon Supercopa, the trio of drivers finishing 46th overall and second in the A3T class.
