TEEN rally star Fraser Anderson says he’s finding it hard to put his excitement into words after confirming he’ll contest this season’s Junior British Rally Championship in a Ford Fiesta Rally4.

The 19-year-old from Shandon will step up to the hotly-contested junior series after a tricky debut in the BRC Academy Trophy during 2021 which saw impressive raw pace interlaced with misfortune and technical issues.

Now, Anderson and co-driver Sinclair Young will step up into the latest generation Rally4 car from M-Sport Poland – with the prize for the series champion including a prize drive in a round of the World Rally Championship in 2023, driving a Hyundai i20 N Rally2 thanks to support from Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing.

“Last season was a real roller coaster of emotions,” says Anderson.

“Our pace within the Academy was very solid, we essentially won every single stage that we did competitively and took the win by over two minutes on the Nicky Grist Stages.

“Unfortunately, a number of technical issues and admittedly a couple of mistakes on my part made the season quite tricky. We decided to take a step back and reorganise for the future.

“I’m hoping that the move to the Rally4 will rectify the technical issues we had last season and I’m coming into this season with a more measured approach, you could say my head is a bit more ‘screwed on’.”

Anderson’s rallying exploits have been extensively covered in the Advertiser over the last few years – starting out in the J1000 Ecosse Championship, in which he won two of the first three rounds in only his second year, before stepping up into the BRC Academy Trophy category.

“At the moment I am still learning the new car,” he said, “and after a long hiatus on tarmac I’m looking to improve my pace on the sticky stuff as well.

“The unique thing about the JBRC is that there are no real weak links so you always must be at your best, or someone else will capitalise and take advantage of the situation. So, I expect the battles to be as hot as ever.

“It’s hard to put into words how excited I am. When I first started in the Junior 1000 Ecosse championship, the Junior BRC seemed like a distant dream that I was never quite fully sure that I could achieve.

“I don’t come from a rallying family with barrels of cash, so to be here is quite literally a dream come true for me and I am eternally grateful to my sponsors and family for this incredible opportunity.”

The Junior BRC, in which Anderson is backed by Cardowan Creameries, Baxter & Gillespie, HSS Glasgow, Artex, and AkzoNobel, kicks off – alongside the main British Rally Championship – in Clacton in Essex on April 23 and 24 before moving on to the Borders, Powys, Aberdeenshire, Ceredigion, Yorkshire and Conwy later in the year.