NAVIGATOR Daniel Barritt is about to move into motorsport's fast lane after clinching a deal to contest this year's World Rally Championship.

The 23-year-old from Hapton will partner Japanese driver Fumio Nutahara in a Mitsubishi Lancer run by the Advan-PIAA rally team.

The pair are to contest the 2006 Production World Rally Championship, which runs alongside the main WRC, starting with next week's Monte Carlo Rally.

And for Barritt, a former winner of the British and American Championships, the deal represents the chance to contest the sport at its highest level.

"This is a big challenge for me, but I'm very excited and it's really where I want to be at this stage of my career," he said.

"It all came about just before Christmas through contacts with Mitsubishi. Fumio was looking for an experienced European navigator and a deal was done."

As a result, Barritt has made an amicable split with David Higgins, who had driven him to both the British and American titles in the past five years.

"It was a very difficult decision to make as David and I are good friends and we've had a lot of success together. But he hadn't got a full programme for 2006 sorted out and I really didn't want to do the British Championship again.

"So when the offer from Fumio and the Advan team came along, it was one I just couldn't refuse."

Ironically, Higgins will be in the south of France next week to contest the event after securing a last-minute, one-off drive with Mellors Elliot Motorsport.

The six-round series, which is only open to less-modified Production Class cars, kicks off with the Monte followed by the Rally of Mexico. After a summer break, it resumes with events in Japan, Cyprus, Australia and New Zealand.

The Monte is the oldest and most prestigious event of the entire World Championship calendar, characterised by its unpredictability.

Starting on Friday, January 20, the event is run over the twisty mountain roads of the Alps above Monaco - famous for its high-life and renowned casino - and attracts tens of thousands of spectators from all over Europe.

The Rally can be as much of a lottery as roulette, because it is almost impossible to accurately gauge the constantly changing weather conditions. A stage might start in deep snow and end in bright sunshine. But for the next car, conditions can be totally different.

The pair have been seed at car 22, behind a host of top names including reigning world champion Sebastien Loeb, who will lead the field away in his privately-entered Citroen Xsara, and Finn Marcus Gronholm who makes his debut in the new Ford Focus WRC.

Added Daniel: "I've never done the Monte before but Fumio finished fourth in the PWRC last year so he's clearly no slouch behind the wheel. Probably the biggest challenge we'll face is getting him to understand my Lancashire accent!"