Kevin Abbring will switch his focus to the World Rallycross Championship when the 2020 motorsport season gets underway.
The former World Rally Championship competitor was originally set to tackle the European Supercar championship with World RX outfit GCK but the French team has now announced a change of plans.
Abbring will instead compete in World RX on a part-time basis, taking in four rounds in a Renault Clio RS RX.
“Putting Kevin into World RX rather than Euro RX was a strategic decision for the team,” said team boss and World RX competitor Guerlain Chicherit.
“Kevin has enormous talent and is super committed to the sport, and we’d always planned for him and I to work very closely together this year.
“Globally, there are a lot of issues at the moment, and having Kevin put his focus and energy into the same number of races but at world-level against some of the world’s best rallycross drivers will prepare him for a successful, full assault come 2021.”
Abbring made his World RX debut at Hell in Norway last year where he impressed immediately, despite having never competed in top-level rallycross before.
He even led the final before eventually finishing fourth, a result he matched in Sweden.
“It feels fantastic to be racing at the highest level again after a successful World RX debut last year,” he said. “This is obviously where I like to be.
“Fighting for an entire championship would have been great of course, but this is definitely the long term aim here as well – and competing against the very best in the world this year will be a positive step for sure.”
