Comtoyou Racing adds Franco Girolami and Viktor Davidovski to final rounds

Comtoyou Racing will expand from four to six cars for the final two FIA World Touring Car Cup rounds in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia for newly crowned TCR Europe champion Franco Girolami and team-mate Viktor Davidovski.

“This is a really good opportunity for Franco to show his potential which we really believe in,” said Comtoyou team manager François Verbist.

“We’ve worked with him for one year now and he really deserved the TCR Europe title as the best and most outstanding driver. He’s also a really hard worker and deserves to have his place on the WTCR grid. For us as a team it was a wish to continue the story with him in WTCR. For Viktor, it is an ambition for him to compete in a world-level series and we are very pleased we’ve been able to make this possible. We know what he is capable of.”

Girolami clinched the 2022 TCR Europe title in style, beating team-mate Tom Coronel by 115 points.

“This is an amazing opportunity after the amazing year we have had winning the TCR Europe title with Comtoyou and I want to thank everybody who has made this possible,” said Girolami.

“It will be a big challenge but I feel ready to make the most of this chance. Obviously it’s going to be step by step, little by little because while the level in TCR Europe is very high right now, the WTCR has the top ten best drivers in the world in touring car racing so for me it’s going to be very interesting to understand WTCR and to try to improve. I don’t have any targets, the only thing I always try to do is my best and to prepare all the events in the best way possible with lots of simulator work and training.”

The two additional cars will be run in support by former STCC TCR Scandinavia champions Lestrup Racing Team.

“Expanding to six cars will of course mean more work so the partnership with Lestrup Racing is really important,” said Verbist.

“But not only are some of their guys joining our team, as part of a common discussion with Audi Sport, we are giving other Audi customers the opportunity to gain experience in a world series and we are very happy to have the support of Lestrup, an Audi customer team in the Swedish Touring Car Championship.”

Girolami and Davidovski will join regular drivers Gilles Magnus, Mehdi Bennani, Nathanaël Berthon and Tom Coronel.