Former British Junior F100 champion Josh McErlean will drive for MH Motorsport in a Ford Fiesta R2T on the Nicky Grist Stages, round five of the 2017 Prestone MSA British Rally Championship.
McErlean, who has already competed in the championship this season in a Citroen C2 R2, will move into one of the team’s newer Ford Fiesta R2T’s after fellow Junior BRC driver Callum Devine changed to a Vauxhall Adam R2 for the rest of this season and the 17-year-old will partner Oscar Solberg in the two Fiesta 1.0litre EcoBoost machines.
The youngster has shown glimpses of raw pace already this season despite the C2’s reliability issues and the Northern Irishman is looking forward to driving a newer Fiesta in the class. He said: “The last few days for me have been very exciting. Everything has just clicked and fallen into place.”
“I certainly wasn’t expecting that phone call from Mike (Harris) but when it actually sunk in, the feeling was immense. It’s a real privilege to be behind the wheel of the one of the most successful R2 cars out there at the moment.”
Although the announced deal begins with the Nicky Grist stages in July, McErlean was set to debut for the team at the Ypres Rally later this month, however a regulation issues has prevented the 17-year-old from being able to take part and he is instead looking forward to July’s event.
He commented on the Welsh event: “It’s going to be a huge learning curve as it’s my first time on the event and in an unfamiliar car. But I will head to Wales with a level head and I`m looking forward to the challenge. I’d like to say thank you to MH Motorsport for this opportunity and I can’t wait to get going.”
The next round of the 2017 Prestone MSA British Rally Championship is the Belgian Ypres Rally, which takes place between June 22-24.