Tom Chilton gets Argentina MAC3 call-up for Citroën

Tom Chilton will join the factory Citroën drivers José María López and Yvan Muller in the WTCC’s manufacturers’ against the clock (MAC3) challenge on Saturday after qualifying, with the team having made their selection ahead of official scrutineering on Friday.

The Sébastien Loeb Racing driver will be competing in his third MAC3 in a row for the French manufacturer, after being nominated to take part in Russia for the first time before Citroën initially planned to switch back to Mehdi Bennani last time out in Vila Real, until technical issues on Friday meant they drafted the 31-year-old Briton in his place.

With no free practice on Friday in Argentina, with a late afternoon shakedown session taking place instead, all nominations have to be made before any cars have taken to the track.

The only nomination ever in question for the new-for-2016 event is the third Citroën driver, with Honda by default selecting their three factory drivers Rob Huff, Tiago Monteiro and Norbert Michelisz at each meeting, and with Lada Sport only able to compete with their three drivers Gabriele Tarquini, Nicky Catsburg and Hugo Valente with no privateer drivers to fall back on.

MAC3 is scheduled for 16:00 ART, directly after qualiyfing.