Bamboo to run works-spec Cruzes in the WTCC

The British team has run Chevrolets in some form since running an old Lacetti in the British Touring Car Championship in 2009. It ran the Cruze model for the first time at the second event of 2011 at Zolder, where it took a fourth place with Daryl O'Young.

"We're delighted to be able to run with exactly the same specification cars as the works RML team this year," said team boss Richard Coleman.

"The Cruze has been outstandingly successful over the last couple of seasons and we're confident that will continue in 2012 with these latest updates."

Bamboo is yet to confirm its drivers for 2012, but Coleman added that the upgraded cars should enable it to fight for the Independents' title this season.

"Last year we took late delivery of our Cruzes only days before the Zolder event where we made an immediate impact," he said. "Now we have almost a year of experience with the car and with the latest updates we're confident that we'll be in contention for the Independents' title.

"On the driver front, we're talking to several top line drivers at the moment and we'll hopefully be in a position to announce our line-up within the next couple of weeks."

Bamboo took O'Young to 14th in the drivers' championship last year, with Yukinori Taniguchi taking 20th.