Esteban Guerrieri will replace the injured Tiago Monteiro in this weekend’s World Touring Car Championship races at the Twin Ring Motegi in Japan, with the Argentine supporting Honda’s title bid.
Guerrieri moves from Campos Racing to the factory Honda team, with title contender Monteiro forced to miss his second consecutive event due to injury and the need to recover at home.
Italian Gabriele Tarquini had replaced Monteiro for the previous event in China, but is unavailable this weekend due to commitments elsewhere.
Argentine Guerrieri will therefore focus on supporting Michelisz’s title bid, with the Hungarian likely to move ahead of team-mate Montiero in Japan.
“I was sorry to hear that Tiago would not be able to race this weekend, but I’m extremely excited to have been given the opportunity to join Honda for Motegi and to drive a factory car in the WTCC,” said Guerrieri, who has already won twice in an independent Chevrolet in 2017.
“I’d also like to thank Campos Racing for their positivity throughout this process and to everybody who has helped in making my move to Honda possible.
“Motegi is a new circuit for me and I’ve never even driven the Civic WTCC, so I’m aware that there’s a lot to learn, but I’m confident that I can do a strong job of helping Honda in the Manufacturers’ Championship and supporting Norbi’s Drivers’ title ambitions.”
Campos Racing Team Manager Ruben Espin added that Guerrieri will remain part of the Spanish outfit’s family, with a return to the independent team possible in the event of Monteiro recovering to return to the driving seat for Macau in November.
“We are very happy to be part of Esteban’s success and we are delighted he has got this opportunity with a factory team,” said Espin. “Although we were hoping he could continue his push for the WTCC Trophy with our team, one of our main goals was to help Esteban develop as a WTCC driver in the hope that one day a chance like this came along.
“Now it has, we are really pleased for him because it’s richly deserved after all his hard work and outstanding on-track performances.
“He will continue to be part of the Campos Racing family and we wish him all the best for WTCC Race of Japan this weekend.
“Our focus will now be on helping the next young talent to join our team, Kris Richard.”