22 full-season drivers have been confirmed for the 2021 FIA World Touring Car Cup, featuring a mixture of male and female drivers from 12 different countries representing five different car brands.
The publication of the entry list comes ahead of the season opener at the Nürburgring Nordschleife on 3 – 5 June.
Leading the entry is reigning champion Yann Ehrlacher, who will once again race for Cyan Racing in a Lynk & Co 03 TCR, with team-mates Yvan Muller, Santiago Urrutia and Thed Björk once again lining up alongside.
Former champions Gabriele Tarquini and Norbert Michelisz will be team-mates for a third consecutive season at BRC Racing, with the duo racing the new Hyundai Elantra N with Luca Engstler and Jean-Karl Vernay in the sister team at Engstler Motorsport.
Also racing the new Elantra are Target Competition duo Andreas and Jessica Bäckman, who graduate to the series from TCR Europe.
Jessica will also become the first female racer in the series’ history, also marking the first full-season for a female in World Touring Cars.
The CUPRA Leon Competición will be run by four cars from Zengő Motorsport, with experienced racers Jordi Gené and Rob Huff being joined by the younger generation in Mikel Azcona and Bence Boldizs.
Münnich Motorsport and Honda has opted for consistency in its line-up, with the four Civics again being run by the German team. Tiago Monteiro, Attila Tassi, Esteban Guerrieri and Néstor Girolami will represent the Japanese brand this year for a third consecutive season.
The all-new Audi RS3 LMS model for 2021 will be operated by the Belgian team Comtoyou Racing, with Tom Coronel, Gilles Magnus, Nathanaël Berthon and Frédéric Vervisch racing the cars from the Ingolstadt marque.
Of the entry list, an impressive nine drivers will be under the age of 25, representing the youth of the sport. These drivers will battle it out for the FIA WTCR Junior Driver title. Those eligible are Ehrlacher, Azcona, Urrutia, Andreas and Jessica Bäckman, Boldizs, Engstler and Tassi.
The 22 entries represents a two-car increase on the full-season entry list from last year, with race-by-race entries remaining open for 14 days prior to each event.
Five drivers will be eligible for the WTCR Trophy, which is for drivers who compete without official support from a manufacturer. The eligible drivers are Andreas and Jessica Bäckman, Boldizs, Coronel and Magnus.
“Not only is the WTCR all-season entry list for 2021 big on quantity, it’s also very big on quality with a really high level of drivers set to take part, including nine 25 or under, plus the WTCR’s first female driver, Jessica Bäckman,” said Xavier Gavory, WTCR Director at Eurosport Events.
“Providing the essential supporting role are 11 highly professional and dedicated teams, while five customer racing departments are actively engaged in WTCR campaigns with all cars equipped with Goodyear tyres and using sustainable biofuel from P1 Racing Fuels for the first time.
“Although we’re still a few weeks away from the start of the new season the ingredients are all in place for another epic year of FIA World Touring Car racing.”
WTCR − FIA World Touring Car Cup 2021: all-season entry list
Number – Driver (NAT) – Team – Car
3 Gabriele Tarquini (ITA) – BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse – Hyundai Elantra N TCR
5 Norbert Michelisz (HUN) – BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse – Hyundai Elantra N TCR
8 Luca Engstler (DEU) – Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team – Hyundai Elantra N TCR
9 Attila Tassi (HUN) – ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport – Honda Civic Type R TCR
11 Thed Björk (SWE) – Cyan Performance Lynk & Co – Lynk & Co 03 TCR
12 Santiago Urrutia (URY) – Cyan Performance Lynk & Co – Lynk & Co 03 TCR
16 Gilles Magnus (BEL) – Comtoyou Team Audi Sport – Audi RS 3 LMS
17 Nathanaël Berthon (FRA) – Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport – Audi RS 3 LMS
18 Tiago Monteiro (PRT) – ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport – Honda Civic Type R TCR
19 Andreas Bäckman (SWE) – Target Competition – Hyundai Elantra N TCR
22 Frédéric Vervisch (BEL) – Comtoyou Team Audi Sport – Audi RS 3 LMS
26 Jessica Bäckman (SWE) – Target Competition – Hyundai Elantra N TCR
28 Jordi Gené (ESP) – Zengő Motorsport Drivers’ Academy – CUPRA Leon Competición
29 Néstor Girolami (ARG) – ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport – Honda Civic Type R TCR
32 Tom Coronel (NLD) – Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport – Audi RS 3 LMS
55 Bence Boldizs (HUN) – Zengő Motorsport Drivers’ Academy – CUPRA Leon Competición
68 Yann Ehrlacher (FRA) – Cyan Racing Lynk & Co – Lynk & Co 03 TCR
69 Jean-Karl Vernay (FRA) – Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team – Hyundai Elantra N TCR
79 Rob Huff (GBR) – Zengő Motorsport – CUPRA Leon Competición
86 Esteban Guerrieri (ARG) – ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport – Honda Civic Type R TCR
96 Mikel Azcona (ESP) – Zengő Motorsport – CUPRA Leon Competición
100 Yvan Muller (FRA) – Cyan Racing Lynk & Co – Lynk & C0 03 TCR