Pontus Tidemand will return to the FIA World Rally Championship for his third appearance of the season in a M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC on Rally Turkey.
Tidemand competed on the opening pair of events of the 2019 season, Rallye Monte-Carlo and Rally Sweden and he’ll return to the championship in the third Fiesta WRC for the 11th round of the season next month.
The 2017 WRC2 champion said on the deal to bring him back to the WRC: “I’m so excited to be back in the FIA World Rally Championship, and back with the M-Sport team – I’ve been waiting for this since we completed Rally Sweden in February!”
“I’m so happy that it’s finally happening and want to thank M-Sport and my local partners for their continued support, and all the people who have helped me. The Ford Fiesta WRC is the ultimate car to drive and even though there were a lot of new things to learn in Monte-Carlo and Sweden, I loved the car from day one.”
While M-Sport Ford Team Principal Richard Millener added: “It’s great to see Pontus back in the team and back behind the wheel of the Ford Fiesta WRC. This is something a lot of people wanted to see – myself included – and I’m looking forward to seeing how he performs in Turkey.”
“He didn’t have the best of luck earlier this year – road position and some technical issues working against him – but when you take all of that into account it was a really solid debut and we’re keen to see what he can do on gravel. Pontus is an all-rounder who’s competitive on all surfaces. He’s got the talent and we want to see him take the next step up in his career. He’ll complete a rough-gravel test with the team in preparation for Turkey, and we know he’ll make the most of the opportunity.”
Aside from his WRC appearances, Tidemand has also featured in the FIA European Rallycross Championship in 2019 with several appearances in an Eklund Motorsport VW Beetle Supercar.
Rally Turkey takes places between September 12-15.
