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Ma Qing Hua gets fourth Citroen World Touring Car Championship seat

Ma Qing Hua will compete for Citroen at select events of this year's World Touring Car Championship

As predicted by AUTOSPORT, Citroen will expand to four cars in order to run the 26-year-old alongside Sebastien Loeb, Yvan Muller and Jose Maria Lopez.

Ma, who has driven for both HRT and Caterham on Formula 1 grand prix weekends, will compete in the WTCC at Moscow, Spa, Shanghai and Macau, and at a yet-to-be decided fifth event.

His arrival means Citroen will field drivers from three different continents in 2014.

Citroen said it tested several candidates for the role, before selecting Ma for his "strong performances" and his fit with its marketing objectives.

"We chose Ma Qing Hua not just for his nationality, but also for his performances," said Yves Matton, Citroen Racing's managing director

"He made a positive impression on us during various tests in the C-Elysee WTCC.

"We won't be able to enter four cars in every round of the championship in this first season, but we've managed to put together a coherent programme.

"Ma will compete in the last two European rounds - Moscow and Spa-Francorchamps - before lining up for his two home meetings, in Shanghai and Macau.

"The fifth race in his programme will be determined at a later date."

Ma said it was a "great honour" to land the drive, adding: "I really enjoyed working with the team during the test sessions I was invited to take part in.

"I am really excited about the opportunity to race for a manufacturer with such a winning record and I will do my best to help Citroen to keep winning.

"It would, of course, be particularly special for me to have a good result in Macau and my hometown of Shanghai, but for now, I'm just looking forward to getting back behind the wheel of the C-Elysee WTCC."

The 2014 season kicks off in Marrakech on April 12-13.

2014 WTCC line-up so far:

Team                 Car                  Driver(s)
Honda (JAS)          Honda Civic WTCC     G Tarquini/T Monteiro
Citroen              Citroen C-Elysee     S Loeb/Y Muller/JM Lopez/Ma Qing Hua
Lada (SMP)           Lada Granta          R Huff/J Thompson/M Kozlovskiy
Zengo Motorsport     Honda Civic WTCC     N Michelisz
Proteam Motorsport   Honda Civic WTCC     M Bennani
ROAL Motorsport      Chevrolet Cruze      T Coronel/T Chilton
Campos               Chevrolet Cruze      H Valente/D Borkovic
Onyx                 tba                  tba

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