LADA has confirmed that it will field a refreshed driver line-up of Nicky Catsburg, Gabriele Tarquini and Hugo Valente in the 2016 World Touring Car Championship (WTCC).
Catsburg is the only driver to remain with the team who competed for the outfit in 2015, when he came in after eight races to replace Mikhail Kozlovskiy.
Tarquini moves to the Russian outfit after his contract with Honda was not renewed for the 2016 season, with the 53-year-old Italian effectively swapping seats with former LADA racer Rob Huff.
Valente will be the youngest driver in the team, with the 23-year-old Frenchman moving to a manufacturer team for the first time in his career, having previously raced with Campos Racing.
The team are currently carrying out an extensive winter testing programme at their Magny-Cours base, along with other European race tracks, as they prepare to embark on their second season with the Vesta – the first time that LADA go into a second full-season with the same car.
Amongst the improvements to the car are new suspension, chassis and steering components along with a new evolution of the car’s 380 bhp turbocharged engine, developed by Oreca.