Munnich to focus on RX with Audis

Touring car and former GT team Munnich Motorsport will switch focus to the World Rallycross Championship for 2015.

Team owner Rene Munnich will contest the full World RX season in one of two Audi S3s built and run in-house by his team, with a second driver yet to be announced.

The squad spent the last two years in the World Touring Car Championship, running reigning world champion Rob Huff in a SEAT in 2013 then switching to a pair of Chevrolet Cruzes in '14. Munnich was first to defeat the all-conquering factory WTCC Citroens last year when ex-Formula 1 driver Gianni Morbidelli won for it at the Hungaroring.

But the team boss was concerned that the Cruze would struggle to be competitive in 2015 and has now announced that rallycross will take precedence.

"World RX will be our main program this year," said Munnich. "We will use this year to learn and then we want to fight for the title in 2016.

"We are pleased about the development of rallycross as a sport and the fact that we can develop our own car is what makes this championship special."

Munnich gave the team's Audi S3 its debut at his home round of the series last season in Germany. He previously raced in both the Supercar and Super1600 categories of the European Rallycross Championship, in a variety of Skoda Fabias.

"Even without a strong result in Germany, we saw that our car is fast enough to score top 10 placings and it was interesting to see how the requirements for the cars change as a result of some of the circuits," said Munnich. "The top speed on the World RX tracks is high and the grip is much better, so we need to adapt the car accordingly."

Munnich is currently expanding its workforce and will develop the Audi throughout 2015.

"We have a different engine in the car now as well as a new gearbox, new differentials and brakes," said Munnich. "We also changed the geometry of the rear axle and have a new weight balance. It's basically a completely new car."

Originally on Autosport.com