Coronel could make Munnich switch in 2016

Coronel, who placed 13th in the standings this year after a season plagued by incidents and technical issues, is fully focussed on a return to the WTCC in 2016.

“There are two options on the grid here,” said Coronel. “I want to be here, I’m talking with my sponsors as you can imagine, at the moment it’s positive, but nothing is concrete.

“In the upcoming weeks it’s time to get everything sorted and see what comes out of it.

“The options are with ALL-INKL (Munnich) and ROAL. It all depends on the budget.”

ROAL Motorsport is understood to require a second driver to be able to continue next year, and with Tom Chilton expected to leave the team, it’s possible the Italian squad may not continue in the WTCC.

That would leave Munnich Motorsport, also running the Chevrolet Cruze, as the Dutchman’s next best option.

“We’re not getting in the way of Tom Coronel and Roberto [Ravaglia, ROAL boss], his preferred option is to stay there and I’m fine with that,” said Munnich team manager Dominik Greiner.

“The plan for our team though is to run two cars next year: one full-time and one on a race-by-race basis for Rene [Munnich].”

Munnich himself has focussed on his World Rallycross Championship programme this year, but kept his hand in touring car racing with four TCR outings with the WestCoast Racing team.

Neil Hudson/TouringCarTimes