WILLIAMS SET FOR ERC ENTRY
M-sport Fiesta R2T outing planned for JBRC regular on Rally di Roma Capitale
James Williams is feeling “well prepared” for his European Rally Championship debut this weekend where he will take on Rally di Roma Capitale in an official M-sport Fiesta R2T.
Williams stormed to a dominant RC4 victory on the recent Ypres Rally, winning the category by 45 seconds and the British Junior Rally Championship section by almost nine minutes.
This has led to an opportunity in an official M-sport car this weekend, and Williams’s hopes are high despite his lack of knowledge of the rally.
“I’m going to be quite fresh to it, but I’m obviously going to try and look at the stages on the internet and watch anything I can see on Youtube to learn as much as I can, but this is going to be my first attempt over there so it will be tricky,” Williams told Motorsport News.
“I’m a super competitive person, so wherever I go, I want to win. As stupid enough as it sounds or as unrealistic as it sounds, when I go to a new event, Rome for instance, I still want to win.”
Williams finished second in the Junior BRC last year and has climbed to third in this year’s standings despite missing a round, but is unsure where he will stack up against the competition in the ERC.
But a good result in Rome could lead to other opportunities later in the year.
“It’s a massive step up going into the European championship, and I think I’ll be well prepared from the British championship having a couple of years there, but again it’s another step.
“I’ve had some international experience doing Wales Rally GB and Ypres as well is quite a high-profile event so I think I’ll be quite well prepared for it. It’ll just be the actual level of the juniors that will be a bit of a question mark.
“[But] I’m going to go out there and do as best as I can and improve the car for M-sport and hopefully if we can get a good result, more opportunities could be in the pipeline so that would be good.”