Belgian team Comtoyou Racing has revealed its drivers for the forthcoming TCR World Tour and TCR Europe seasons, where it will field a total of six cars.
Although the team had last year said it would run four cars in the inaugural TCR World Tour, in the end it has committed to just two.
Frédéric Vervisch returns to a full season in top-level touring car racing for the first time since 2021, with the 36-year-old Belgian being joined by Brit Rob Huff.
For Huff, it marks a continuation of a relationship with the Volkswagen-Audi Group which first began in 2017, but this time he will represent the Audi brand for the first time in his career.
Comtoyou Racing will be the only team to officially race with the Audi Sport label in 2023.
Vervisch competed full-time in the FIA World Touring Car Cup in 2018, 2019 and 2021, picking up four race victories. He took part in last year’s TCR Europe finale in Barcelona, his only outing of the year in a touring car.
Four-strong line-up for European championship
Comtoyou Racing will continue to race in TCR Europe. Last year the team ran three full-season entries for Tom Coronel, Viktor Davidovski and Franco Girolami. The first two will continue into 2023 – but reigning champion Girolami will not return to the series with the team, having instead committed to racing in TCR Italy this year in an Audi with Aikoa Racing.
51-year-old Coronel is entering into his fourth consecutive season with the team, his longest stay at a single outfit since he raced with ROAL Motorsport in the WTCC for seven years.
Macedonian racer Davidovski joined the team last year and immediately tasted success, with the 42-year-old winning a race in TCR Europe at Le Castellet.
Davidovski is TCR Europe’s most experienced racer, with 2023 being his sixth season in the series.
28-year-old Corsican John Filippi joins the team for the coming campaign for his ninth season in touring cars. Filippi raced with Sébastien Loeb Racing in the series last year, ending the year tenth overall in the drivers’ standings. He had also been a title contender in 2020, when he was runner-up.
The final berth in the team will be occupied by young 18-year-old Belgian Kobe Pauwels, who moves into touring car racing for the first time after previous experience competing in European rallycross, where he lifted the 2022 RX3 title.