WRC: Delecour commits to R-GT Cup

Francois Delecour has committed to the FIA's new R-GT Cup series for GT cars in the World and European Rally Championships, securing a Porsche 911 drive for the inaugural season. The Frenchman will start his campaign in a Tuthill Porsche on the Monte Carlo Rally later this month – an event he has won outright previously.

Delecour first drove the British team's Porsche 911 GT3 on the Rally of France last year, where he was trading times with the similar car of Romain Dumas when he slid off the road and damaged the car's radiator. Since the Alsace event, Delecour's sole focus has been to source the budget for an R-GT assault.

"It is fantastic to be driving in [the] R-GT Cup, it's a fantastic opportunity," said Delecour. "There are some really nice rallies, but for sure, Monte Carlo will be the most difficult. It's very important that we win this one."

Delecour will be testing the Porsche for two days in the French Alps next week and, despite having tackled the Monte 18 times previously, he acknowledges the scale of the task ahead.

"It will help to have some experience of this car on these roads before we start the rally," said Delecour, who is backed by Visit Romania. "This will be a very, very difficult rally for this car. The Porsche is quite wide and some of these stages are narrow and tricky and, of course, we won't have the same grip as the four-wheel drive cars.

"It is fantastic to be driving this car again. You know, this is my rally, the Monte and to be here in a Porsche 911 is the dream for me."

The FIA's first ever rally series for GT cars also includes the Ypres Rally, Rally Germany, Rally Valais and the Tour of Corsica.

Originally on Autosport.com