2006 Fiesta Sporting Trophy International series champion Alessandro Bettega will make his debut in a world rally car this week when he pilots a Ford Focus RS WRC06 on the Rallye de France-Tour de Corse.

Last year the Italian won the FSTi round in Corsica by a considerable margin and now, with his Super 1600 experience gained this year, will look to turn heads when he jumps behind the wheel of the Focus RS.

“This will be a difficult rally because it is my first rally in the new car but I am really looking forward to starting the event,” said the TRT La Scuderia-backed man.

“It's difficult to say how we will go because I don't have any experience in the car so it is hard to judge until we have done a few stages. It's not the local championship now, it's the WRC!

“There is not much sense for us to push hard right from the start, we will start by acquiring a feeling for the car and hopefully improve stage by stage. My goal for the event would be to improve on my times over each stage and make sure we get to the end to gain maximum experience in the Focus.”

In preparation for the event in Corsica, Bettega spent time at Ford's M-Sport base in northern England with Stobart Ford driver Matthew Wilson recently testing the car at a local airfield.

This will be Bettega's 13th outing in the WRC - and like Wilson Jr, Henning Solberg and Jari-Matti Latvala he will compete under the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford rally team banner.