Italian racer Pasquale di Sbatino will return to the World Touring Car Championship in 2014 to race a BMW 320 TC alongside Team Principal Franz Engstler in the TC2 category.
Di Sabatino last raced in the WTCC in 2012 when he competed in the first half of the season in a Chevrolet Cruze for the bamboo-engineering team. The Italian failed to return for the second ‘fly-away’ part of the season after the European leg due to initially a bout of illness for the Brazilian event and latterly due to pulling out of the series.
Engstler Motorsport Team Manager Kurt Treml is pleased to be able to welcome the former single-seater driver back to touring cars.
“We are happy we managed to find a last-minute deal with Pasquale,” said Treml. “He has some experience in WTCC and we expect some good results from him. We also thank Liqui Moly for their continuous support that enables us to stay in the WTCC since 2007.”
Di Sabatino, 26, is looking forward to returning to the WTCC in 2014, having not raced since the Portuguese event in 2012.
“Coming back to WTCC is a dream come true,” added di Sabatino. “I’m very pleased to race alongside an experienced driver like Franz Engstler, I can learn a lot from him. Now I have to get used again to race after a two-year break that lasted since the 2012 WTCC event in Portimão.”
During his previous spell in the WTCC, di Sabatino achieved a best result of 12th on three occasions, competing in a total of 14 races.