Swedish Touring car specialists WestCoast Racing are pleased to announce that they will campaign Volkswagen Golf TCR machinery in the 2017 TCR International Series with Gianni Morbidelli returning for his third season with the team and will be joined by promising 16-year-old Giancomo Altoè.
WestCoast Racing have been front-runners in the series since its inception in 2015, taking an unprecedented 14 wins in the first two seasons and putting themselves on top in the outright victory statistics.
Italian Superstars champion and ex F1 ace Morbidelli is keen to expand on his 14 podium visits, while Altoè makes the jump from the Middle East Series after a debut podium finish in the Abu Dhabi round.
Moving from single seaters in 2017, Altoè will partake his first full season in Touring Cars with WestCoast Racing, while Morbidelli is a known quantity to the team and will be pivotal in adapting to the new Golf TCR.
“I’m really happy and excited to do another season with WestCoast Racing,” said Morbidelli. “For this year, we have big expectations and the pressure that comes with that. We’re running a new car and we all have to get up to speed as soon as possible. I’m glad to be back, after two seasons I know the potential and the guys. Overall I’m looking forward to it!”
Altoè is also looking forward to his new challenge. “The team has a lot of experience in Touring Cars. I really like the atmosphere in team, everyone is very professional and friendly, so I’m really happy to join WestCoast Racing. It’s a big change from the Middle East Series with the Volkswagen Golf but I really enjoy the TCR category and I’m looking forward to it.
“My goal for the season is to learn as much as possible. I know Gianni very well, he’s very experienced and I hope with him as a teammate in WestCoast we can make of my first year in Touring Cars a success!”
Team Principal Dick Jönsson Wigroth explained the thinking behind the switch of manufacturer for the coming season.
“We decided the time was right to take the opportunity to make the switch to Volkswagen which took the Championship in 2016,” he explained. “We had a number of options and thought long and hard about which manufacturer would offer the best chance of a WestCoast Championship and chose the Volkswagen as we believe it offers the best overall package.”
WestCoast Racing will be making further exciting announcements ahead of the 2017 TCR International Series which gets underway in Georgia on April 2.