Tue 16 May 2023

Mexican Spitalier twins to make Junior ERC history

Twin brothers Patrice and Nicolas Spitalier will make history when they become the first Mexicans to compete in the FIA Junior ERC Championship this season, further proof of the global appeal of the young driver category for Hankook-equipped Rally4 and Rally5 cars.

After finishing Rally Guanajuato México in March as the leading Rally5 crew, the Spitalier siblings will tackle the six-round Junior ERC schedule, which begins with ORLEN 79th Rally Poland from 19 - 21 May.

The 25-year-olds are entered in a Peugeot 208 Rally4 run on Hankook tyres and will shine a spotlight on Escudería TV4 Guanajuato, a team whose focus is the development of young drivers in Mexico.

“We are very excited about this great challenge of facing the best of Europe in our category,” said Patrice Spitalier. “We already had the opportunity to compete in the Peugeot 208 Rally4 in Sardinia last year and were able to win several stages, so at least we feel a little more comfortable in this car.

“This time it will be on gravel, while last year it was on asphalt, but our plan is to continue learning and doing our best to get as many wins as possible for the Escudería TV4 Guanajuato team.”

With the support of TV4, the State of Guanajuato and CargoLive, the Spitaliers hope their Junior ERC participation will open the door for other Mexican drivers to follow in their wheel tracks by competing in the FIA European Rally Championship.

The Escudería TV4 team is currently represented in Mexico by Juan Pablo Labiaga (21), Mónika Orozco (14), Emiliano Retama (18) and Gustavo Urióstegui (26).

Finland
Starts: Wednesday, July 31, 2024 at 4:00:00 PM
Italy
Starts: Friday, July 26, 2024 at 8:30:00 AM
Hungary
Starts: Saturday, July 27, 2024 at 9:30:00 AM