Nicky Catsburg is set to put his full attention on his BMW GT programme in the new M8 GT3 in 2018, as Polestar Cyan Racing don’t have a car ready for the incoming TCR regulations.

The Dutch driver finished fifth in the drivers’ championship and was in contention for the title for much of the season, with arguably a double-DNF in Argentina with two punctures perhaps signalling the end of his challenge.

As Volvo do not have a car for the new TCR regulations, new champion and Volvo contract racer Thed Björk looks set to be without a racing drive for 2018, with his team-mates Néstor Girolami and Nicky Catsburg free to find other opportunities in 2018.

With Catsburg already a part of BMW Motorsport’s GT programme, the 28-year-old says that will most certainly become his main focus for 2018.

“I have my collaboration with BMW, and hopefully I can have a nice programme with them next year,” Catsburg told TouringCarTimes.

“It’ll be a shame if I can’t do anything next year in touring cars; I think at the moment it’s pointing in that direction. I guess Volvo will be developing some sort of TCR car at some point, and I really hope to be back with Cyan Racing in the future.”

Catsburg explained his disappointment to not being able to be the driver to win the title for the Swedish manufacturer, but was happy to have been a part of the team’s success this year.

“I can’t lie, I wanted to be where Thed is now, but at the end of the season it became clear that this was the goal,” he added. “I think we did a fantastic job as a team to make this happen.

“At the beginning of the weekend, it wasn’t looking easy. We had one of the latest meetings in my life (on Thursday) night – I got back at 2:30am to my hotel, as we worked to make the car better, and it we did make it better, and we were strong enough to win both championships on race day, so I’m really happy for the team.”