20-year-old Klim Gavrilov looks set to enter the FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) this season as part of an all-Russian independent entry.
According to motorsport.com, the youngster will once again race with the St. Petersburg-based VRC Team; a combination which secured Gavrilov the runners-up spot in the 2020 TCR Russian Touring Car Championship.
Despite his young age, Gavrilov is a name which many touring car fans may already be aware of. In addition to making a number of guest appearances in TCR Europe and TCR Italy, he is perhaps best known for winning the touring car element of the 2019 FIA Motorsport Games held at Vallelunga.
During the 2020 campaign, VRC Team ran a Hyundai i30 N TCR for Gavrilov which proved to be a very successful package. In the end, only the factory-supported Lada of Kirill Ladygin stood between the youngster and the overall Russian title.
The Hyundai is likely to be the team’s choice of model once again for their debut on the world stage, however they have noted some concerns over the Balance of Performance measures that were used in the series last year. As such, their older Audi RS3 LMS TCR is also under consideration for use.
Speaking to motorsport.com, Yuri Gavrilov – Klim’s father – said, “It was important for us to come to the World Cup with a national team. In the past, we had experience of working with foreign teams in karting – but we did not see any know-how that our guys do not have.
“The line-up that has recently gathered around Klim are very cool guys. And in recent years, Klim and I have been engaged in tuning cars for tests and races. We have a lot of knowledge – and we achieve results.”