Young Hungarian Zsolt Dávid Szabó will replace Aurélien Panis at Zengő Motorsport in Argentina next month, after the Frenchman opted to leave the World Touring Car Championship part-way through his début season.
Szabó, who has previously raced in the TCR International Series when he raced a SEAT for the team in four races in 2015, will graduate to the WTCC alongside fellow Hungarian Dániel Nagy in the second Honda Civic.
The 21-year-old has spent 2017 so far racing in the European Touring Car Championship, where he comes off the back of claiming his maiden win in Vila Real and his first podium two rounds previous to that in Hungary.
Like factory Honda driver Norbert Michelisz, Szabó has also graduated to the top level of touring car racing following a stint in online gaming beforehand.
Szabó will share the second car with fellow Hungarian hopefuls Ferenc Ficza and Norbert Nagy, who will take the wheel of the car after Szabó has raced in next week’s event at Termas de Río Hondo in Argentina.
“Zsolt has impressed us with his pace and potential and ability to learn new tracks and adapt to new situations very quickly,” said Zengő Motorsport Team Principal Zoltán Zengő. “As a team that takes pride from the work it has done in giving opportunities to young talents and nurturing their careers, we are very pleased to give Zsolt this opportunity in the WTCC and are excited to watch him progress.
“It will be tough but there’s no better way to learn and he’ll be given all the help possible to aid his transition.
“While we are committed to running a second car alongside Dániel Nagy for the rest of the season, we are considering giving two of our other young drivers, Ferenc Ficza and Norbert Nagy, the chance to do a WTCC race and we’ll make an announcement on this in due course.”