Munnich finalises World Touring Car Championship switch

GT1 world champion team Munnich Motorsport has confirmed it will switch to the World Touring Car Championship for 2013, as predicted by AUTOSPORT.

The team will run three SEATs for team owner Rene Munnich plus its GT1 drivers' champions Markus Winkelhock and Marc Basseng.

Former rallycross driver Munnich raced a Special Tuning SEAT in last year's Suzuka WTCC round as an exploratory outing while assessing a 2013 programme.

The three drivers also raced a SEAT Leon Supercopa car in this month's Dubai 24 Hours as further preparation.

"At Suzuka we started learning about the series, because the basis for success is not to get caught by surprise," said Munnich.

"SEAT is the logical partner for us and the car promises to be reliable and competitive."

The WTCC move brings Winkelhock back into touring cars for the first time since his 2007-10 DTM stint with Audi.

Munnich told AUTOSPORT last November that the reorganised form of the GT1 series did not appeal to him.

"We don't think the [2013 GT] world series is a true world championship and the marketing and PR behind the WTCC makes it easier to make the investment," he said.

SEAT took just one victory in last year's Chevrolet-dominated WTCC, with Gabriele Tarquini triumphing in his Lukoil car in Slovakia.