MN rally champion Sharrock will return

Inaugural Motorsport News Circuit Rally champion James Sharrock is poised to return to the championship as the build of his new Ford Escort Mk2 nears completion.

Sharrock hasn’t rallied since winning the title in 2016 but has contested some Caterham and historic races in Europe.

However, with his eldest child now going to university, Sharrock has more free time and is close to getting behind the wheel of his “one of a kind” Escort.

“The build has taken three or four years as other projects keep taking over [but] the car will be very fast. Whether I can pedal it that fast is to be seen,”

Sharrock told MN.

“This one is using all the latest bits and pieces including the latest spec of Millington engine, a lot of touring car parts like the power steering [and it has] traction control so it’s a very clever car. We’re aiming for it be one of the top five Escorts in the world. [I believe] there’s only one that’s better or similar at the minute and that’s David Bogie’s.”

Sharrock is targeting a return to the MN Circuit series early next year as he looks to shake down the car, before trying his hand at bucket-list events in the future.

“We are going to register for the [MN Circuit] championship but it’ll most likely be early next year, the first round that we get to, [then] we’ll jump in at the deep end,” he said.

“Over the next two years I want to get the car into Europe, I want to do Barbados, it’s really going to be more of a wish-list car; doing rallies I want to do.

“Stuart [Faulds, co-driver] and I have talked about Mull, we’ve talked about Manx, we’ve talked about Ireland. There’s so many things I want to do now I’m over 50. It’s more about the enjoyment.”