Three manufacturers looking to join WTCC

He admits though that the dominant performance from Citroen has been a distraction to new entries.

Despite the benchmark laid down by Citroen, representatives from potential manufacturers have been present in the WTCC paddock over the last 12 months.

Kia was believed to be present in Slovakia one week ago, while Volvo has already mentioned an interest in returning to the WTCC following its one-year evaluation season in 2011.

"I can tell you that the interest is there," said Ribeiro. "We have a minimum of three really working on a WTCC bid, but decisions in the automotive industry are not short.

"I tell you that everybody perfectly acknowledges the level today and if you want to stand against Citroen you have to do things very professionally, that's not just budget, but organisation, timeline and planning.

"It'd be easy to say Citroen are dominating the championship and they're going to scare all the other manufacturers, but this is not the case.

"They have aligned the best car, best drivers, best team, and they're very reliable, not having racing incidents or technical issues."

One of the noted weak points of the European model Civic is its design, being a "two-box", hatchback shape.

Ribeiro confirmed that the manufacturers which are evaluating the WTCC all have models in mind, and all will be the more aerodynamically efficient saloon shape.

"All the three manufacturers which are working seriously on WTCC, all of them are working on three-box cars, this is a better base for sure," he said.

The current generation of Super 2000 TC1 regulations are also not set to change any time soon, which will allow for consistency for any new manufacturers joining the championship.

The most recent Technical Working Group between all manufacturers was cancelled as there was no agenda for discussion besides a number of minor clarifications.

Neil Hudson / TouringCarTimes