Australian rally champion Molly Taylor will take part in another international event over the next few months after securing a deal with M-Sport to compete at three FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) rounds. 

Starting with next month’s Rally Estonia, Taylor will then head to the Mediterranean in September for the classic Acropolis Rally Greece, which makes its long-awaited return to the calendar after seven years, before finishing up her stint in October with Rally Finland.  

Usually behind the wheel of a Subaru, Taylor will contest the three WRC rounds in M-Sport’s new Rally3 car and will be reunited with co-driver Seb Marshal, for whom she ran with multiple times during her previous international stint between 2010 and 2013. 

Marshall won’t be the only familiar face for the former European Rally Championship rally star with Taylor also teaming up with current M-Sport Ford team principal, Richard Millener, who worked with during those four years where she drove a Fiesta R2 in the WRC Academy – a forerunner to the Junior WRC.  

“We’re getting the band back together. I’m really excited to have this opportunity and get back to some of my favourite WRC events in Finland, Estonia, and the Acropolis, which has always been on the bucket list,” Taylor said. 

“We’ve been working towards this programme for a while, so it seems like it’s been in the distance for so long.  

“You don’t want to get too excited, because you’re always trying to put programmes together, and it’s often that nothing happens. Then it all started to come together, and it looked like it was finally happening. Now it’s coming around really soon, so it’s pretty surreal.” 

While Taylor has previously competed at WRC events, this stint marks a new challenge for her as she contests in the third tier of the WRC pyramid in the first car to be given the green light for competition in the category.  

Ahead of July’s Rally Estonia, the 2016 RSEA Safety Motorsport Australia Rally Championship was looking forward to the returning to the WRC.   

“It’s exciting to be a part of the beginning of the category and I think, from everything that I see, it looks like a really good package, so I’m really excited to give it a go,” Taylor added.  

“I always wanted to get back into the WRC. I feel like it’s been many years of trying to get to an opportunity like this – and after all the work I’ve put in going all the way back to 2012 - I’ll take it now.” 

Taylor’s three-round spell adds to her already busy schedule, which has seen her compete in the ARC and in the inaugural Extreme E Series where she is leading after two rounds.  

Next month’s FIA WRC Rally Estonia takes place in the regions of Tartu, Otepää, Elva on 15-18 July.

Taylor's Busy schedule