TCR Europe Trophy winner Aurélien Comte will race DG Sport Compétition’s second Opel Astra TCR in the season finale of the TCR International Series in Dubai.

It means the Belgian team will return to a two-car entry, after running just the one Astra last time out in China, having previously fielded two cars all season until that point.

Frenchman Comte, who finished fourth overall in the 2017 TCR Benelux series, recently won the TCR Europe Trophy at the end of October, where he raced a Peugeot 308 Racing Cup for the team.

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The youngster is part of Peugeot Sport’s development programme, and the French marque has given their permission for Comte to race an Opel in Dubai.

DG sport’s second car was previously campaigned by Belgian Pierre-Yves Corthals for the first four events of the season, before being raced by Frenchman Grégoire Demoustier for three events and then Thai racer Munkong Sathienthirakul in Thailand.

“First and foremost I wish to thank Mr Demoustier, the boss of Eurodatacar, for the support he has given to this initiative,” said Team Manager Christian Jupsin. “I’m obviously very pleased to be able to offer Aurélien this opportunity to compete in the final meeting of the TCR International Series in Dubai.

“He put in a god performance this season with our Peugeot 308 Racing Cup, finishing third in the TCR Benelux in the company of Kevin Abbring, prior to masterfully clinching the European title at Adria.

“Just like the entire team I know that one must not judge Aurélien’s performance based on this unique meeting at the wheel of a car he is not familiar with and up against drivers accustomed to the pace of international events.

“He has my full trust when it comes to tackling these two confrontations in an adequate state of mind and take full advantage of this bonus in his 2017 season.”