James Thompson is the new Lada man

James Thompson is going to drive the new Lada Priora in Porto. TouringCarTimes.com together with stopandgo.tv are able to confirm the identity of the new driver, whose name had been around for quite a while.

The new model of the Russian manufacturer will be driven by the Briton, while Jaap van Lagen and Kiryll Ladygin will continue with the 110 model until Oschersleben, the first event after the summer break, where two more Prioras will be available.

The agreement with Thompson, which is due to be officially announced by Lada in a couple of days, is not valid for all the remaining events of the season.

The two times British Touring Car Championship champion will have to face some date clashes that will prevent him from taking part in some of the events of the World Touring Car Championship.

In those occasions, according to our sources, Thompson will be replaced by current Lada driver and Russian Bears team owner Viktor Shapovalov.

TouringCarTimes understands that there is no chance for Thompson to test the car ahead of Porto. Therefore the first contact between the Priora and its driver is going to take place directly in Porto.