Following cameos by America’s Ben Kennedy and Frenchman Eric Hélary, three-time FIA World Touring Car Championship winner Yvan Muller joins the EURO-RACECAR NASCAR Touring Series entry list for the Tours Speedway round (July 6-8) in what is shaping up to be the European automotive event of the year.
The Chevrolet Cruze WTCC driver – who secured world titles in 2008, 2010 and 2011 – is set to swap his regular mount for the American marque's Camaro model in a one-off EURO-RACECAR appearance. Muller will compete as the series visits Tours (Indre-et-Loire, France) for what will be the first NASCAR Touring Series oval event staged in Europe.
“After 33 years of racing I'm still learning new things so I'm very happy to be part of this experience,” said Muller. “I join the series as a rookie and will have everything to learn about oval racing. I don't know a great deal about it so I'm free to embark on the adventure without pressure.” Muller will compete as a guest entrant and thus be ineligible to score points so as not to interfere with the championship battle.
The Altkirch-born driver will line-up with reigning EURO-RACECAR champion Hélary's Still Racing outfit, sharing the #100 Chevrolet Camaro/Still Racing-Convergence machine with Open class driver Stéphane Sabates. The link-up with Hélary will see Muller coming full circle in his career, a key factor in his decision to participate at Tours Speedway alongside a pre-existing commitment to the Le Mans Classic over the same weekend.
“It gives me particular pleasure to work with Eric Hélary, because we raced each other 30 years ago in go-karts,” Muller revealed. “It's funny to see that we’re both still involved in motorsport, especially with him now becoming a team manager – my team manager, no less! So I'm definitely going to appreciate the human side of this experience.”
And what an experience it promises to be. Muller will be greeted at Tours by the 2574lbs (1170kilos) Camaro which is powered by a 5.7-litre V8 delivering 450bhp. With its 4-speed, dog-leg gearbox it will be a very different beast from the Frenchman’s usual machinery.
Following a successful career in single-seaters Muller made a brilliant transition to touring cars in the mid-nineties, taking victories and titles in France, Italy, Germany and Great Britain before dominating the World Touring Car Championship in recent years. The Alsatian has scored 27 wins and 20 fastest laps as well as racking up 331 laps at the head of the field. He has also distinguished himself in several different championships, including Australia's V8 Supercars, where he became the first European to win the Sandown 500, and ice racing, in which he is a multiple champion.
Tours Speedway will host the fourth round of the 2012 EURO-RACECAR NASCAR Touring Series. All information (including schedule and ticketing) can be found at the event's official website: racecarspeedway.com.
