M-sport Ford Fiesta for Brit Roger Thomas

British Rallycross podium finisher Roger Thomas will race an M-sportbuilt Ford Fiesta Supercar in British RX and abroad in 2019.

Thomas contested the majority of British RX events last year in a Ford Focus while also racing an MG Metro 6R4 in the Retro Rallycross category, but will switch to the ex-bryan Herta Rallysport machine for this year.

The car recently arrived in the UK and is undergoing a full rebuild by rallycross preparation experts Tony Bardy Motorsport.

“I’ve looked at a lot of cars over the last year, but we’ve been working hard to do a deal on this Fiesta since August,” Thomas told Motorsport News. “I went over to Indianapolis to see it and sort everything out, then it arrived in the UK recently. The intention is to do the full British season along with some events in Europe – one or two rounds of GRC Europe and a couple of Euro RX rounds too. We’ll probably end up doing 12 or 13 events I think. I’m really excited.”

Herta’s team, which won the Indianapolis 500 with Dan Wheldon in 2011, ran Fiestas in the now defunct American-based GRC for three years until the series folded after the 2017 season.

Swede Patrik Sandell claimed a pair of victories with the car Thomas now owns in 2015 and 2016, while young drivers Cabot Bigham and Austin Cindric drove for the team in its final season.

Latvian Reinis Nitiss drove a similar M-sport-built Fiesta, run by the SET Promotion team to win the Euro RX title last year. Alongside his Supercar commitments, Welshman Thomas will also continue to compete in rallying with a Ford Fiesta R5, and race his ex-lawrence Gibson Metro 6R4 in selected Retro Rallycross events.