Gabriele Tarquini uncertain if privateer Lada will make it on the grid

Gabriele Tarquini is uncertain if the former works Lada team’s plans to get back on the grid in 2017 will come to fruition, after initially having been in talks to stay on at Viktor Shapovalov’s now independent operation.

Lada pulled the plug on their World Touring Car Championship programme just ahead of the 2016 season finale in Qatar, leaving drivers Tarquini, Nicky Catsburg and Hugo Valente looking for drives for 2017 at the worst possible moment.

Although Catsburg may have found a seat at Volvo, who will confirm their drivers on Monday, Hugo Valente indicated he was unlikely to race again in the WTCC due to other priorities after becoming a father last year, while Tarquini’s last hope would appear to be a spot with the remnant of the Lada team, otherwise in other touring car series.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen, the situation with Lada got a bit messy,” said Tarquini to TouringCarTimes. “I don’t know if they are going to solve their issues.”

The entry deadline for the 2017 season closed yesterday, with the entry list set to be revealed at the season launch at Monza in two weeks’ time. Outside of Lada, Tarquini admits his next best option is likely to be within the array of TCR-based championships emerging across the world.

“Of course TCR is still a possibility. I’m looking at different directions and then I will decide what to do,” he added. “I still don’t want to look into anything else than touring cars. That is my world and I don’t want to start over.

Tarquini, who celebrates his 55th birthday on Thursday, says his focus is to continue racing. “I still believe I will race this year. I wanted to have my future sorted by this time of year, but it just hasn’t happened yet.”