Andersson to make IRC debut in Sardinia

Former double Junior world champion P-G Andersson will make his Intercontinental Rally Challenge debut on Rally d’Italia-Sardegna next month.

The Swede, 30, will drive a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X for the British JRM operation. It is the same car Gwyndaf Evans used to win the British championship-counting Pirelli Rally in April.

"It will be the first time I’ve driven the Evo X in competition although I will get a short test in Sweden tomorrow [Friday]," said Andersson. "I own an Evo IX, which I’ve driven on a few events at home, so it will be interesting to see the differences between the two cars."

Highly-rated, Andersson was a factory Suzuki driver in the World Rally Championship until the Japanese make quit the sport at the end of 2008. More recently, Andersson has driven a Skoda Fabia S2000 in the Super 2000 World Rally Championship as well as testing a Ford Focus WRC for the factory-blessed M-Sport team.

Andersson is no stranger to Sardinia’s demanding gravel roads, having tackled the Olbia-based rally five times in the past when it counted as a round of the WRC. His best result is ninth overall, which he achieved in a Suzuki Ignis Super 1600 car in 2004 and in a Suzuki SX4 WRC in 2008.