Germany’s Timo Scheider will become the second two-time DTM champion on the FIA World Rallycross Championship grid this year, driving for the newly rebranded MJP Racing Team Austria squad.
Scheider will race one of two new Ford Fiesta Supercars for Max Pucher’s team in his first full assault, having sampled rallycross at selected events over the last two years and finished fourth in Argentina last November.
“I am very excited to join MJP Racing Team Austria and to be able to compete in the full 2017 FIA World Rallycross Championship. We have been talking for some time but now we have realised a great partnership,” said Scheider, who is also a former winner of the Nürnburgring 24 hours. “For me, rallycross encompasses the great passion of motorsport. The level of the Championship goes up in 2017 with more manufacturers entering, but MJP Racing has built a new car for this year that will be a serious contender. I look forward to a fantastic rallycross season.”
Team owner Max Pucher is excited to be working with Scheider in World RX this year. “Having Timo with us in the team is just fantastic and makes all of us really proud. I very much look forward to the 2017 season with him,” said Pucher. “In 2016 our team achieved great results, including three new track records in World RX. We reached the semi-finals regularly and the fact that we placed third and fourth in Barcelona showed how competitive both the team and cars are. Our infrastructure and capability has grown substantially over the past nine months we were able to realise our plan for a more competitive car for 2017.”
Racing as World RX Team Austria, MJP Racing Team Austria finished sixth in the 2016 World RX Teams’ Championship standings.
Press Release