WTCC outlines 20-car entry list for 2016 season

All four manufacturer teams - Citroen, Honda, Lada and Volvo - as well as the Sebastien Loeb Racing satellite Citroen squad had already announced their full line-ups prior to Wednesday's media launch at Vallelunga in Italy.

Citroen will run a pair of its C-Elysees for world champion Jose Maria Lopez and Yvan Muller, while SLR expands to three cars - with Tom Chilton and Gregoir Demoustier joining Mehdi Bennani.

Having signed Rob Huff and Norbert Michelisz to race alongside Tiago Monteiro, Honda's line-up has also grown to three cars, while Lada will field Nick Catsburg, Gabriele Tarquini and Hugo Valente.

Volvo enters the series with Polestar Racing, and will campaign Thed Bjork and Fredrik Ekblom in its first campaign.

The publication of the entry list did confirm WTCC stalwart Tom Coronel's place on the grid for a 12th season, continuing to race a TC1 Chevrolet Cruze for ROAL Motorsport in a one-car entry for the Italian team.

Coronel's Cruze was one of four registered, with Rene Munnich to return to the cockpit for his eponymous Munnich Motorsport outfit and Campos Racing having assigned a second car to partner John Filippi - although a second driver has not yet been signed.

After Michelisz's move to the factory Honda outfit, Zengo Motorsort is set to add a second Honda Civic to its line-up for a pair of as yet unconfirmed Hungarian drivers.

NIKA Racing has also been included on the official list for 2016 having announced its intention to run Swedish ex-European Formula 3 racer John Bryant-Meisner, despite its place still requiring FIA approval.