Having lost out to BMW in the battle for the World Touring Car Championship titles, SEAT Sport has confirmed a five driver line-up that it hopes will secure championship glory in 2008.

Title runner-up Yvan Muller will spearhead the team, with Jordi Gene, Gabriele Tarquini and former F1 racer Tiago Monteiro all returning for another season.

The team will be completed by Swedish driver Rickard Rydell, who returns to the SEAT line-up having sat out most of the 2007 season aside from a guest run for Chevrolet at Anderstorp and a run back in SEAT colours at Macau.

With a strong line-up for the new season, SEAT will now hope to go one better than this year as, aside from Muller finishing second to Andy Priaulx in the drivers' title, the team also finished second to BMW in the manufacturers' championship – although the diesel-powered Leon introduced mid-way through the campaign proved to be a step forward for the team as it took the fight to its rivals.

"Next year we'll have a team of five expert drivers who have all been up on a podium and started from pole position," SEAT Sport director Jaime Puig said. "I'm sure we'll once again be highly competitive and strive to take home the world manufacturers' and drivers' titles."