Yvan Muller will be putting his bid for a fifth FIA World Touring Car Championship title on hold – just until after this weekend.
The Frenchman is contesting his home round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship at Lohéac before jetting off to Japan for the latest rounds of the WTCC from 11-13 September.
“I’m very excited about racing in Lohéac, particularly the very first start and the first corner,” said the Citroën Total WTCC driver, who will pilot an Albatec Racing Peugeot in Lohéac (pictured). “I spent some time learning the track on a simulator, but of course you can’t compare that to racing there. The cars are great and very fast, and have been designed to be good on both Tarmac and gravel, so I’m sure there will be some compromise required. I think the biggest challenge will be to learn how much to attack on the gravel, and indeed the Tarmac, to make sure I look after the tyres across the weekend. I expect the battle to be very intense.”
Muller will start JVC KENWOOD WTCC Race of Japan second in the standings, 55 points behind team-mate José María López. Despite holding the record of WTCC wins with 45 triumphs, Muller has never claimed victory in Japan before.