Lada's WTCC story might not be finished just yet

Lada made their first WTCC appearance under the guise of the independent Russian Bears Motorsport team all the way back in 2008 and gained factory support from Lada the following year. Since then, they have have become one of the most popular teams in the championship and have attracted the likes of Rob Huff, James Thompson and Gabriele Tarquini as drivers. In November of last year it was announced that Lada would withdraw their factory support of the team as they wanted to focus on the Russian championship instead. This created speculation as to whether or not we'd see the Vestas on the grid this year but Viktor Shapovalov, the team's principal, has announced that a deal has been made to allow the team to continue as an independent outfit for 2017.

Pictured here at the Hungaroring are the three cars that Lada ran in 2016

With support from Lada and title sponsor Rosneft being withdrawn, it'll be difficult for the team to find funding especially when you consider that there won't be a round of the championship in Lada's home-country of Russia this year so the usual high budget sponsors of the team such as Lukoil and Rosneft will be much harder to come by than in previous years. And it is this lack of any form of sponsorship that will make it difficult for the team to retain their drivers Gabriele Tarquini and Nicky Catsburg for the new season and with Hugo Valente already stating his intentions to run in the TCR International series for 2017, it remains to be seen who will be driving the Ladas if they're able to make in onto the grid at all.

Should the team find the necessary funding to compete, they'll be going up against privately entered Citroens and Chevrolets as well as the factory efforts from Honda and Volvo. The return of Lada would mean there'd be sixteen TC1 class cars on the grid with the new sub-category WTCC-2 helping to bolster grid numbers. The Lada Vesta TCR car is eligible for this new sub-category so it is entirely feasible that the team may run cars in WTCC-2 this year before making their return to the TC1 class in 2018. Either way, they'll be numerous fans out there who will be hopeful of seeing the Lada Vestas on the grid.

Image credit: WTCC

Jordan Hines

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