WTCR squad Comtoyou eyes World RX programme

Comtoyou, which will contest this year's World Touring Car Cup and runs an Andros Trophy effort [pictured], expects to be closer to finalising its plans to enter World RX within the next fortnight.

"For sure we looking to do a deal with EKS to have the cars with us and I think in the next two weeks we will be able to say more about that,” team manager, Francois Verbist told Motorsport.com.

“We want to first finish Andros Trophy [this weekend] because we are fighting for the championship in the Elite class.”

Verbist says Comtoyou is looking to secure a deal to compete in World RX long-term, but decisions on how the final 2018 programme will look are yet to be made. 

“Our goal is to be involved in that [World RX] and to be long-term in the championship. We’re in contact with Mattias [Ekstrom] and Klas [Boman, EKS CEO] about running two cars,” he continued.

“I would say we are not [there yet] with drivers or full the package. We’re really working hard to make the deals happen, but it’s a bit too early if we will be a full team, single entries or whatever.” 

The squad currently runs Audi A1s in the Andros Trophy for three-time Le Mans winner Benoit Treluyer and former GP2 driver Nathanael Berthon amongst others, but Verbist says the link with EKS isn’t connected to Audi. 

“I ran with Mattias in 2012 and 2013 for the Spa 24 Hours and from then we’ve kept in contact," he explained.

"When I started to have some ideas about rallycross, for sure he’s the first guy I asked. I don’t see any reason to go anywhere else. They are some of the best cars on the market and we really believe it’s a strong base.” 

Belgian endurance driver Enzo Ide has been linked with a drive in the team.

Verbist was unwilling to commit to a potential driver line-up, but noted “I drove with one driver in 2011, in GTs, who is interested in rallycross,” having shared an Audi R8 LMS drive with Ide that year. 

The EKS squad announced at the Loheac round of World RX last September that it would sell four of its five S1 quattro Supercars, amid speculation that it wouldn’t continue in the sport. 

On Monday, however, Ekstrom’s team confirmed increased Audi support and that it is building new cars for its 2018 challenge.