Franceschi, who had experience from one previous ERC start dating back to 2021, stepped up to the championship on a full-time basis for 2023 as the reigning French gravel champion.
Although his knowledge of the events was practically zero, Franceschi impressed by placing sixth in the final championship standings after scoring points on seven out of eight starts for French team AMD Motorsport.
The Michelin-equipped driver claimed two top-six finishes during the season, despite changing co-drivers twice and having to adapt to Škoda’s all-new Fabia RS Rally2 for the final three events of the campaign with limited testing.
“For sure it was so difficult to discover all the events but it’s cool to be at the finish line of this championship because it’s demanding a lot, the budget, the energy and the time,” said the 24-year-old, whose older brother Jean-Baptiste won the Junior ERC title in 2021.
“Rally Hungary was really difficult but it was good to finish the season with the sixth fastest time and now I just want to find the money to be back next year.”
“It will be really hard to come back but we have some possibilities,” Franceschi continued. “Michelin will help us again next year and we have some more meetings so I hope it can be possible. We will be fighting to be back but to also be higher up [in the results].
“For the first time [in ERC finishing sixth] was not so bad and I just want to thank my team and my partners for making this possible. Maybe we can be better next year, but we need to come back, that is so important because of the experience we now have.”
Finland
Italy
Hungary