World Touring Car Championship star Norbert Michelisz says he is planning to compete in the new FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) in 2018, although he admits he does not yet have a contract signed.
Michelisz has spent the past eight full seasons competing in the WTCC, but faces a new challenge in 2018 as the demise of the WTCC and birth of WTCR means his plans have to be reconsidered.
“I still have no signed contract, and I guess I still need some weeks to clear my future, and the same goes for M1RA [Michelisz’s TCR team]” said Michelisz to Hungarian website Index.hu. “However, I have to say that my goal is to compete in the WTCR this year and I want to fight again for the championship title after taking second place in last year’s World Championship.”
Michelisz admits that he would rather see a strong World Cup, rather than a weak World Championship, even if it means he can no longer race as an official Honda factory driver.
“If I should choose, I would prefer to gain a professionally stronger World Cup than a weaker World Championship.
“I think that in the WTCR there will be at least a high-level field like last year in the WTCC, plus the manufacturers side is even more interested in the series; four or five car manufacturers will definitely be there.”
The Hungarian believes that teams will still be factory supported, even though official entries from the car marques are not permitted under the TCR regulations that the Cup will run to.
“According to my calculations, there will be four or five teams that will be able to compete with serious factory support,” added Michelisz. “In addition, there will be six to seven factory pilots who will be contracted with one of the manufacturers who will be hired to drive the cars.”
With the new Cup seeing a significant increase in entry fees compared to the TCR International Series, Michelisz does not expect that the 26-car limit announced in December will be reached.
“Due to the increased cost of the new championship I am not sure that there will be 26 competitive players and ten teams that can produce the necessary financial backing,” added the 33-year-old. “I expect that there will not be 26 permanent starters on the grid, but at the same time the number of entries of around 20 will surely come together.”