Dupont and Comtoyou Racing first entrants for World Touring Car Cup

Dupont finished fifth in the regional TCR Benelux series last season with two victories, and also contested four TCR International Series races for the Comtoyou Racing outfit driving a SEAT Leon TCR.

He will contest the WTCR world cup with the same squad but for 2018 Dupont will trade the Leon for a Comtoyou Audi RS3 LMS with full backing from the Royal Automobile Club of Belgium (RACB).

"I don't know any of the tracks actually so it will be a great new challenge," said Dupont, who has been backed by the RACB since 2016.

"Last year it was the same, I did not know [TCR circuits] Dubai or Zhejiang but still I was fast so I am not very worried about that.

"We haven't done any tests yet but we know the programme and it's going to be OK.

"It's difficult to say a ranking but of course we want to perform well and we have to target some podiums.

"We will see where and when depending on the tracks. I also need to adapt to the world championship but podiums are the target."

The announcement also means Comtoyou is the first team to officially sign up to WTCR for the 2018 season.

It only made its debut in the TCR International Series last year, but made an impression with the new-for-2017 RS3 and by signing Stefano Comini, who joined on the back of winning the first two TCR International titles.

Comini ended the year with three wins and finished third in the drivers' standings, while the team also added a second RS3 for Frederic Vervisch for eight rounds.

"Denis is a very quick driver," said Comtoyou team principal Jean-Michel Baert, who's outfit plans to run three cars in WTCR this season.

"He's listening a lot to the information from the engineer, from the team.

"He's professional, he works every day, every time. He's a very good guy for the team."

Teams signing up to WTCR are obliged to field a minimum two-car team in the series from next year.

Belgian squad DG Sport has formally announced its intention to contest the new world cup with a pair of new Peugeot 308TCRs - although that remains dependent on the team securing the necessary budget to compete.

GT outfits Craft-Bamboo Racing and WRT - which also competed in the TCR International Series - have also expressed interests in running cars in the new world cup.