TCR front-runners Comtoyou Racing are poised to contest the 2018 FIA World Rallycross Championship with a pair of former EKS RX Audi S1’s alongside their recently announced WTCR programme.
The team are still yet finalise the acquisition of the cars from EKS although Comtoyou team manager Francois Verbist has confirmed talks are well under way and should be closer to a conclusion following the Andros Trophy finale, where they currently compete with a pair of Audi A1 Quattro’s.
The Andros Trophy has been their first attempt outside of circuit racing and they have so far proven a powerful squad with ex-GP2 driver Nathanael Berthon and triple Le Mans 24 Hours race winner Benoit Treluyer running second and fourth in the standings respectively. The team are meanwhile looking to seal the teams’ championship outright.
“World RX is a nice step for us,” said Verbist to Autosport, “We looking to do a deal with EKS to have the cars with us and I think in the next two weeks we will be able to say more about that.”
The team were able to strike a deal with the Mattias Ekstrom led team when the Swede placed both Audi’s up for sale amid doubts over his future in the series.The two-time DTM champion has since committed full-time to the series following his recent DTM retirement. As a former endurance team-mate of Verbist, Ekstrom was therefore the perfect point of contact for the Belgian squad.
“I ran with Mattias in 2012 and 2013 for the Spa 24 Hours and from then we’ve kept in contact,” continued Verbist. “When I started to have some ideas about rallycross, for sure he’s the first guy I asked. I don’t see any reason to go anywhere else. They are some of the best cars on the market and we really believe it’s a strong base.”
The team are yet to officially comment on their line-up, although rumours are suggesting another of Verbist’s ex-endurance partners, 2016 Blancpain GT Sprint Cup champion Enzo Ide.
