Delecour to contest 10 events

Francois Delecour's 2013 ERC season will comprise of 10 events, beginning with this weekend's Janner Rally in Austria, which is also the opening round of the season.

The 50-year old former World Rally winner in the days of the Group A Ford Escort Cosworth, Delecour has been out of a full works drive in an international championship since he and Mitsubishi parted ways after a disastrous 2002 campaign in the squad's less-than-competitive Lancer WRC.

However, he hasn't been dormant since then. He returned for the 2011 Rallye Monte Carlo in a Peugeot 207 S2000 and posted competitive times on his way to fifth overall. He then finished sixth overall in a Ford Fiesta RS WRC on the 2012 edition of Rallye Monte Carlo, having run there for most of the rally. On the final stage of the rally, he swapped seats with co-driver Dominique Savignoni as a retirement present to him.

Delecour also contested the full Romanian Rally Championship in 2012, winning the title outright. He will now tie up with the Kronos Racing team for a 10 round championship, making him more or less a full-time driver as few drivers contest every round. He will also contest the entire Romanian National Championship.

He said: "I hope we'll be able to do about 10 ERC rounds this year: that would be the plan, plus all the Romanian championship, so it's definitely going to be a busy year. But I feel much better prepared than I did last season, because I've been competing regularly and we've got a proper programme in a perfectly developed car with the chance to go testing as well.”

He likened his 2013 ERC championship to a full factory effort, with the ability to test before events giving him a much higher chance of success. The Kronos Racing team has experience running semi-works and full factory teams, having run Citroen's entry in the WRC in 2006 and Peugeot in the IRC series.

Delecour has never tackled the Janner Rally before, however his winning experience of the Rallye Monte Carlo will pay dividends in the changeable conditions of the Austrian rally.