Münnich Motorsport have confirmed their third Honda Civic Type R TCR will be driven by former DTM champion Timo Scheider for the four remaining rounds of the season, as the team fight to win the 2018 World Touring Car Cup drivers’ title with Yann Ehrlacher and Esteban Guerrieri.

Scheider, the 2008 and 2009 DTM series champion, will take over the car which was raced by James Thompson during the European arm of the season, with the British driver’s agreement lasting up to the fifth round at Vila Real.

39-year-old Scheider retired from competing in the DTM at the end of the 2016 season after 16 years in the championship, and has signficant touring car experience, although he will be new to front-wheel drive touring car racing and TCR.

“It will be a hard challenge for me to join the championship in the middle of the year without any experience,” said Scheider. “But due to the fact that I like new challenges I will give it all to get it done as good as possible. I have no experience of any of the tracks, unfortunately, but I will be supporting my team, having fun, making my first experience with a front-wheel-driven car and finally making my debut in Macau.”

The German already has a relationship with the ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport team,as he competes with them in the World Rallycross Championship, where he’ll be racing with them this weekend at Riga in Latvia.

“We’ve brought Timo into our team for the last four rounds of the championship, as we believe he’ll really bolster our challenge for the FIA World Touring Car Cup title,” said team manager Dominik Greiner.

“Scheider has tremendous experience in touring cars, and the main focus for him is the season finale Guia Race in Macau, so the next three rounds in China and Japan will be more about preparation, as he won’t be able to test the car beforehand as they’re already in transit to Ningbo in China.

“We’ve worked well together in rallycross, and it seemed a natural choice as well as a perfect fit to bring him into our touring car team as we fight to win the first WTCR – World Touring Car Cup title with Yann and Esteban.”