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WRC Trophy champion gets M-Sport Ford Fiesta for two 2018 events

Last year's WRC Trophy champion Jourdan Serderidis will step up to a Ford Fiesta WRC for two rounds of the 2018 World Rally Championship with M-Sport.

The 54-year-old Greek privateer will pilot a Fiesta WRC at Rally Germany in August and at the season-closing Rally Australia in November.

Serderidis is no stranger to the M-Sport team, driving a Fiesta R5 for his first significant WRC programme in 2014 before switching to a Citroen DS 3 WRC for the last three years.

"I am extremely pleased to be back with M-Sport and even more so with the latest Ford Fiesta WRC, which is the best car you can drive in [a] rally nowadays," he said.

"I perfectly understand the chance I have and I will make the necessary efforts and preparation to make the most of the opportunity.

"Considering these two rallies, I hope to secure a top-15 place in Germany and a top-10 position in Australia, which represents a reasonable target for me."

Serderidis' deal is a straight customer operation and he will not be running as one of the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team members in the same way Bryan Bouffier did at last week's Monte Carlo Rally and Teemu Suninen will for the majority of the season.

M-Sport managing director Malcolm Wilson added: "It will be great to see Jourdan back in the M-Sport service area this year, and I am sure he is looking forward to getting behind the wheel of the Fiesta WRC.

"Our clients have always been at the heart of our business, and we're extremely proud of the fact that we are able to offer these unique opportunities.

"Jourdan will drive the exact same [specification] car as five-time world champion Sebastien Ogier and have all the same tools and information at his disposal.

"Knowing how hard Jourdan works - and how much experience he has at this level - I have no doubt that he will put absolutely everything into these drives.

"And our aim is to help him secure his first FIA World Rally Championship points with a new-generation world rally car."

Serderidis will not be defending his WRC Trophy title as the FIA has dropped the under-supported series for older generation World Rally Cars.

Zdroj: autosport.com