The status of official Audi drivers held by Frédéric Vervisch, Nathanaël Berthon and Gilles Magnus, together with the close link between the brand and Comtoyou Racing, it foreshadowed that the Belgian team was going to keep its driver line-up ahead of the 2022 WTCR season, always with the touch of Tom Coronel and his interesting financial contribution to the project. However, Comtoyou Racing has modified its squad and will feature Moroccan Medhi Bennanisince Frédéric Vervisch will not compete in the World Cup this year.
The bases of the project remain the same. Comtoyou Racing will compete with four new generation Audi RS 3 LMS TCRs, a vehicle that debuted last season. It will do so with two differentiated structures, one under the colors of DHL -Coronel’s sponsor- and another with its own colors and closer support from Audi. Nathanaël Berthon and Tom Coronel will share structure under the support of the parcel companywhile Gilles Magnus and Mehdi Bennani will form a new team under the umbrella of the Belgian structure.
Medi Bennaniwinner of the TCR Europe with Comtoyou Rcaing in 2020, is the great novelty of the team in a season in which the Moroccan driver will seek victory in the WTCR Trophy: «WTCR is a series I know well and now it’s time to see how far we can go.. I had a couple of very good years at TCR Europe. I had a fantastic year in 2020 and I have great memories of the Comtoyou team, but I think it was time to go back to the premier class. The grid is very strong, so we have to be constant because the level is very high».
Jean-Michel Baertowner of Comtoyou Racing, has valued the high-level line-up that he has managed to put together for the 2022 WTCR season: «I am very proud of everything we have achieved since 2017. We once again have a competitive line-up in which official Audi drivers and private drivers are mixed. After a full year of development with the new Audi RS 3 LMS TCR, we are back at it to keep improving. We are even better prepared than other years and I think that this year we are going to fight for the titles.».
For its part, Chris Reinke As head of Audi Sport’s ‘racing-customer’ department, he added: “We want to continue the success streak of the Audi RS 3 LMS TCR in the 2022 campaign. During last year, his debut season, we achieved three victories, twelve podiums and four pole positions, as well as six fastest laps. I think these successes speak to the good job we’ve done with our TCR. With Comtoyou Racing we have a reliable and competent partner to whom we entrust our project».
Photos: FIA WTCR