Autosportfoto

Ciamin graduates to WRC 2

Nicolas Ciamin will move into the WRC 2 category this season after announcing a five-event programme in a Hyundai i20 R5. his first event will be the Corsica Linea - Tour de Corse (5-8 april).

The Frenchman, runner-up in last year's Junior WRC, will be starting only his third season of rallying in 2018 but is already moving up into the second-highest level of WRC competition.

"Starting my career as a rally driver in the world championship was a daring gamble, but it was the right solution to gain experience quickly," the 20-year-old Frenchman said.

"The 2017 season was a positive one with my victory in Finland. If it was a question of winning just one rally, then that was the one!

"We had two options for 2018: continue in the Junior WRC and aim for the title or move up to the next level."

His WRC 2 programme will include Corsica, Rally Italia Sardegna, Neste Rally Finland, ADAC Rallye Deutschland and Marmaris Rally Turkey. His Hyundai [pictured below] will be run by Sarrazin Motorsport.

Sarrazin Motorsport team owner Stéphane Sarrazin said: "I'm delighted Nicolas is joining us. He's been taking part in rallies for just two seasons but he's already a sure-fire French hope. He can test himself against Jari Huttunen in our team as he's got exactly the same car."

Zdroj: wrc.com