René Munnich joins STR for Japan

German Rallycross champion René Münnich will make his WTCC debut next week at Suzuka, driving for Special Tuning Racing in the SEAT León WTCC car formerly entrusted to Darryl O’Young.

Besides being a very successful rallycross driver, with a tally of four German titles between 2007 and 2010 all at the wheel of Škoda Fabia cars, Münnich is also team principal of the Münnich Motorsport ALL-INKL racing team that have recently won the FIA GT1 World Championship.

“It is a great pleasure to work with Special Tuning Racing. It is a good opportunity for me to get a hands on evaluation of the WTCC. As a driver this is a new challenge for me. I have never raced at Suzuka before. Luckily we are using the short circuit so that will give me the chance to learn the track quickly and get used to the car. Competition in the WTCC is of the highest level, so it will take some time to get used to it. And I also want to use this time to investigate the possibility for our team to join the championship next year,” Münnich said.

Gary Robertshaw, Technical Director at STR commented: “We are looking forward to working with René and providing him a competitive car. We have just come off a very promising weekend in Sonoma and are looking to take this to Suzuka. It’s going to be a big challenge for René not having driven a contemporary WTCC car and also having to learn a new circuit. We are confident that the package and support we will provide will enable us to achieve our goals for the weekend.”