Rhys Yates will compete in the 2020 WRC2 championship in the second M-Sport Ford Fiesta R5 MK2 alongside the already confirmed Adrien Fourmaux.
British driver Yates has competed in the British, European and what is now known as the WRC3 series’ in recent years in a variety of R5 machinery and will step up as he enters an eight-round campaign with the Cumbrian team.
He’ll again be joined by co-driver James Morgan, who he competed with in his debut WRC season last year and the pair will begin their 2020 season on Rallye Monte-Carlo later this month.
A delighted Yates said on his move to WRC2: “Walking through the doors at Dovenby Hall you can’t fail to be impressed and humbled by the history and performance created in those buildings. It’s an amazing place and a real honour to be driving in the M-Sport Ford team this year.”
“I know I’ve still got stuff to learn in this sport, but M-Sport’s just the best place to do that learning. I’m looking forward to being able to lean on that experience and knowledge. I’m also looking forward to getting my head down, putting some times in and chasing some results.”
“Last year was all about finding my feet at the next level. I did that, stuck to the plan and I was really pleased with the times we made in the target stages. Now it’s the time to move forward again and I’m delighted to be doing that in a Ford Fiesta R5 Mk II with a team of world champions helping me.”
Although he has competed in both a Skoda and Hyundai in his recent seasons, Yates is no stranger to M-Sport built cars; he competed in the BTRDA series in 2015 in a R2-spec Fiesta while competed in the BRC in both 2016 and 2017 in an R5 variant.
M-Sport Ford Team Principal Richard Millener added on the news: “It’s great to welcome Rhys into the team and I’m looking forward to seeing how he develops over the course of the year.”
“He has the work ethic to go far, and I know that he and James will put everything into their programme to ensure they realise their potential. Having gained good knowledge of a number of events last year, he’s ready to mount a challenge for the top results and we plan to help him achieve that goal.”
2020 Rallye Monte-Carlo takes place between January 23-26.
