IT’S AN AUDI FOR ‘SHEDS’ IN WORLD TIN-TOPS

THREE-TIME BRITISH TOURING Car champion Gordon Shedden will race an Audi for top team WRT in the new World Touring Car Cup.

The Scot (below) announced last month that he would step away from the BTCC for 2018, and was always tipped for a full-time move to the world cup with WRT, with which he raced in the final round of the TCR International Series last year in Dubai.

Shedden grabbed pole position and a podium on his TCR debut in a Volkswagen Golf GTI, which came in support of the successful title bid of Jean-karl Vernay.

Vernay stays on with WRT to partner Shedden in the new WTCR, which is run to TCR technical rules and replaces the old TCR International Series and the World Touring Car Championship.

WRT’S switch from VW to Audi for its tin-top attack comes alongside its status as the Ingolstadt marque’s long-time leading squad in GT3 competition. As in GT3, WRT will receive customer racing support to run its pair of RS3 LMSS. Shedden and Vernay have also been awarded Audi Sport driver status for 2018.

Another Belgian Audi customer racing team, Comtoyou Racing, has also announced its complete 2018 line-up. Its ’17 season regular Frederic Vervisch – who has also been confirmed as an Audi Sport driver – and ex-gp2 driver Nathanael Berthon join Aurelien Panis and Denis Dupont in a four-car line-up.