Take a look on Ewrc data about Miguel Campos. 2003 in particular. He ended ERC with the same points that the series winner (Bruno Thiry) but was one victory short. His previous international experience (beside Portuguese WRC and ERC events) was almost zero.
http://www.ewrc-results.com/profile....=Miguel-Campos
Ok, the championship layout was different than today but still closer to current ERC than what it was IRC a few years ago. In IRC days private drivers didn’t get a chance (like the also talented Magalhães experienced), only manus drivers were able to fight for the title. Now it's different.
Btw, according to Ewrc, it seems Kajto also didn’t had considerable international experience before get to ERC.