Richard: WTCC here I come

Kris Richard booked his place on next season’s FIA World Touring Car Championship grid with a dramatic final-lap capture of the European Touring Car Cup’s Super 2000 crown at Imola in Italy yesterday.

Richard tied on points with Petr Fulín but claimed the title of international touring car racing’s second tier – and a one-off drive in next year’s WTCC – on countback having claimed three seconds compared to Fulín’s two during a memorable year.

In his first season of touring car racing, the former single-seater racer from Switzerland took five wins including a brace at the Slovakia Ring, plus a memorable victory at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, when the ETCC topped the WTCC support bill.

Of his prospects for 2017, Richard, 21, said: “I hope I can continue with touring cars and I hope also with Honda. I feel very confident with the car. What comes next I don’t know. I think it needs a bit of time to see what budget I can get for next year to see what I can do.”

Honda’s WTCC team boss Alessandro Mariani, William De Braekeleer, Auto Sport Manager of Honda Motor Europe, Zengő Motorsport head Zoltán Zengő and four-time WTCC champion Yvan Muller were in attendance at ETCC Race of Imola, where Richard took the title in a Rikli Motosport-prepared, TCN2-specification Honda Civic.