FIA World Rally Championship star Andreas Mikkelsen and reigning Red Bull Global Rallycross champion Scott Speed will be joining the regular competitors for the first round of the 2016 Audi Sport TT Cup at the Hockenheimring this weekend

Sixteen permanent entrants will battle it out with Mikkelsen and Speed over the weekend around the 4.574km circuit. “We have a very good mix of rookies and seasoned campaigners who competed in the Audi Sport TT Cup last year,” says Project Leader Philipp Mondelaers.

New for 2016 is the Rookie class which will see ten new faces joining the line-up which is sure to shake things up for the regular competitors, “Following the impressions from the tests, I’m expecting to see very close races and a lot of variety on the podiums,” says Chris Reinke, Head of Audi Sport customer racing.

Competitors will get a practice session on Friday followed by a 30-minute qualifying session on Saturday morning. Race action will be at 12:10 Saturday and 16:20 Sunday local time. Both rounds will be broadcast by live streaming at www.audimedia.tv.

2016 Audi Sport TT Cup permanent entrants with car numbers and car colors

#2 Strohschänk, Kevin (D, *May 24, 1989), Rookie – Green

#3 Rdest, Gosia (PL, *January 14, 1993) – Blue

#4 Lappalainen, Joonas (FIN, *March 1, 1998) – Gray

#5 Nielsen, Nicklas (DK, *February 6, 1997), Rookie – Yellow

#6 Lefterov, Pavel, (BG, *November 12, 1997), Rookie – Orange

#7 Hofbauer, Christoph (D, *July 15, 1991) – Green

#11 Hofer, Max (A, *May 23, 1999), Rookie – Gray

#12 Larsson, Simon (S, *May 13, 1997), Rookie – Gray

#14 Caygill, Josh (GB, *June 22, 1989) – Yellow

#23 Ellis, Philip (GB, *October 9, 1992), Rookie – Gray

#27 Marschall, Dennis (D, *August 15, 1996) – Yellow

#31 van der Linde, Sheldon (ZA, *May 13, 1999), Rookie – Blue

#33 Lindholm, Emil (FIN, *July 19, 1996) – Blue

#42 Egsgaard, Patrick (DK, *December 15, 1994), Rookie – Yellow

#76 Holton, Paul (USA, *October 11, 1996), Rookie – Orange

#91 Meyer, Yves (CH, *June 12, 1991), Rookie – Green