Метка: M-Sport

M-Sport to launch behind-the-scenes WRC docuseries



A new World Rally Championship docuseries will launch later this month, offering fans a rare behind-the-scenes look at M-Sport Ford’s 2024 campaign.

The series titled ‘More than Machine’, produced in partnership with team sponsor SafetyCulture by Superlative Films, is a six-part documentary that follows the daily lives of M-Sport’s drivers Adrien Fourmaux and Gregoire Munster, engineers, technicians and other team members through this year’s 13-round WRC season.

The trailer for the series – to be broadcast through the WRC’s YouTube channel – has been released today with the first episode, which follows the team’s progress through Safari Rally Kenya, to be launched on August 22.

Behind-the-scenes sporting documentaries have grown in popularity in recent years with Formula 1’s Netflix ‘Drive to Survive’ series the catalyst for a range of spin-off series in various sports. This is the first time the WRC has dabbled in the genre through a major production by an independent filmmaker.

According to M-Sport, one of the key objectives of the docuseries is to “bring never-before-told stories to life”, with the series focussing on not only the drivers but several team members ranging from co-drivers, weather crews, mechanics and physiotherapists.

“We’re very lucky to have this opportunity to tell all the incredible stories behind our fantastic team,” said M-Sport team principal Richard Millener.

 

“On rallies, there’s so much that happens behind the scenes in the service park that the fans don’t get to see, and I believe this series will do a lot to bring people even closer to the sport.”

“We’re only really scratching the surface, but by telling these stories and getting to know the people who run the cars and make the rally happen, we’re opening ourselves up to an even bigger fan base.

“There are real, human stories to tell here, and I’m so pleased we’re now able to document them.”

M-Sport founder, Malcolm Wilson, added: “Up until now the WRC has not delved into the backstories of the people who make the operation work, so having the chance to show this to a global audience is something very special. I hope everyone enjoys watching our journeys in WRC as much as we have enjoyed working with the production team on it.”



Source link

M-Sport to investigate further Sesks WRC Rally1 outings


M-Sport will investigate further opportunities to field Martins Sesks in the World Rally Championship following stunning displays in Poland and Latvia.

Sesks made his Rally1 debut with the Ford team as part of a two-round agreement facilitated by the WRC Promoter and partners of last year’s European Rally Championship runner-up.

The Latvian made an immediate impact finishing fifth on his debut in Poland driving a non-hybrid Ford Puma. Last weekend he stepped up to the hybrid specification Rally1 car in Latvia, where he lit up the timing screens, scoring two stages wins and challenged for a podium before a mechanical issue on the final stage dropped the 24-year-old to seventh.

When asked if there is a chance Sesks could return for more outings with the team, M-Sport team principal Richard Millener told Autosport/Motorsport.com: “I would love to [do something] and I will certainly spend a bit of time trying to see what’s possible.

Martins Sesks, Renars Francis, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Ford Puma Rally1

Martins Sesks, Renars Francis, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Ford Puma Rally1

Photo by: M-Sport

“I have to be honest, M-Sport didn’t fund any of this. We just helped with the car and we got the budget as low as possible to get it done. Other partners in the WRC Promotor and Martins partners made this happen. 

“If we could find a way to get him involved again, it would be great.

“He’s proven in two rallies you can keep up with WRC guys. I think you would definitely consider him if you had the opportunity.

“He’s just worked very well when I was with the team, everybody and his approach and his attitude and his charisma and the way he does the stage-end interviews and how he is with the fans. There are a lot of new Martins Sesks fans at the minute.”

Sesks is set to continue his European Rally Championship campaign this weekend at Rally di Roma in Italy, where he will drive a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 car.

“This experience with M-Sport has been amazing, I was enjoying so much being here with the team,” said Sesks.

“The team has become like a family now, we were really working shoulder to shoulder to get the result and I think we fit in well.”

Read Also:



Source link

Sesks’ top fight WRC debut one of the strongest in a while


Martins Sesks’ top-flight World Rally Championship debut at Rally Poland is “one of the strongest in a while” according to M-Sport team principal Richard Millener.

Last year’s European Rally Championship runner-up has stepped up to rallying’s top Rally1 class with M-Sport as part of two-round deal, supported by the WRC, that also includes his home WRC round in Latvia next month.

Sesks headed to Poland with having conducted only one test in the Ford Puma but has lit up the stages to end Friday in fifth only 7.7s adrift of the rally lead.

To add further gloss to his performance, Sesks is running a non-hybrid powered version of the car that is 130 horsepower down on his Rally1 rivals.

The 24-year-old stunned himself by clocking a second fastest stage time in stage two just 0.3s behind the benchmark set by rally leader Hyundai’s Andreas Mikkelsen. It prompted a stage end reaction that has already gone viral on social media.

While Sesks was assisted by a strong road position, the Latvian consistently posted top five stage times.

When asked if he could believe what he had achieved, he said: “I don’t have anything to answer to this because for me, one of the things that would be fine for me for Saturday was not to be the last Rally1 car, so I have someone in front to see the lines. We have done that job.

“Let’s not talk about the podium just yet. It is all about finishing the rally and to learn. It is incredible.

“Everything is difficult in the car and that is what makes it easy because it is all difficult and you have to concentrate on everything.”

Martins Sesks, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team

Martins Sesks, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team

Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images

M-Sport team principal Millener labelled the performance as one the best first days for a driver in the WRC top-flight.

“It is definitely up there, I would say it is one of the strongest first day debuts we have seen in a while,” said Millener.

“Now the key bit is keeping his cool for the rest of the rally.

“If you look at his strengths, they are these type of roads, and he is not a slow driver anyway, and he had good road position.

“But on the other hand, he had never driven the car for more than a day and he is straight into a World Rally Championship and against the best there and doing what he has done on every stage is pretty fun to watch. It’s pretty impressive.”

Sesks ended Friday 0.2s behind M-Sport regular Adrien Fourmaux having been the top Ford runner until the day’s final stage.

Read Also:



Source link

The remarkable 22-year streak M-Sport is celebrating at WRC Rally Poland


When it comes to streaks in motorsport, M-Sport’s run of scoring manufacturer points in 300 consecutive World Rally Championship rounds, spanning 22 years, is difficult to beat.

It’s a feat that is unlikely to be surpassed and which is being celebrated by the Ford squad at Rally Poland this weekend after achieving the milestone in Sardinia earlier this month.

To put this achievement into context, social media didn’t exist, mobile phones couldn’t access the internet, and the current World Rally champion Kalle Rovanpera was just a one-year-old future superstar when this run of results began.

Monte Carlo, 2002 is where this unfathomable streak started when world champions Carlos Sainz and Colin McRae brought the factory M-Sport-run Fords home in third and fourth.

After double title winner Sainz and 1995 world champion McRae reached the finish in Monte Carlo 22 years ago, M-Sport has amassed manufacturer championship points at every rally entered, achieving key milestones such as the 100th event at Rally Turkey in 2008, the 200th coming at Rally Mexico in 2016, and then the 300th at Rally Sardinia this year.

That equates to a whopping 84,365 kilometres of stages completed with 29 drivers and 38 co-drivers contributing points over the journey. During this period, M-Sport has operated as the Ford factory team, but since 2013 it’s been a semi-factory outfit, competing against the heavily financed works efforts from Citroen, Volkswagen, Toyota and Hyundai.

M-Sport reached the 300 consecutive point-scoring rallies landmark on Rally Sardinia

M-Sport reached the 300 consecutive point-scoring rallies landmark on Rally Sardinia

Photo by: M-Sport

When asked to explain how his team has achieved such a feat, M-Sport founder Malcolm Wilson told Motorsport.com: «It started when we got the Ford contract and it [the WRC] was all about reliability. Obviously rallying has changed but, in the early days, if you had a good, reliable car you stood a chance of winning or getting a good result.

«We’ve always tried to do that. We have had a quality control inspection on everything since then and that side of the operation has only got bigger and better with regards to attention to detail, and obviously just a great team of people as well.

«At the end of the day, you can’t do anything without people, and I’ve been lucky that a lot of people that are still working for me have been involved since before this all started in 2002.

«I mean, to be honest, even when we got landmarks like 100, 150 and 200, we were thinking it has to end at some point. In fairness, it’s a lot easier now but in those early days, you actually had to be sometimes in the top six to get in the manufacturers’ points, so it’s easier now than it was then.

«It hasn’t been a full factory outfit since what, 2013 and it’s some years it’s been close if we would even continue. That probably makes it even a bit more remarkable.

«Let’s be honest, it will never happen again because which manufacturer is going to still be in WRC for 22 consecutive years?»

Title success on 2017 Wales Rally GB was a major highlight for Wilson

Title success on 2017 Wales Rally GB was a major highlight for Wilson

Photo by: Sutton Images

Reflecting on this run of 300 events, one rally stands out as the most cherished in Wilson’s eyes. The event in question is Wales Rally GB 2017 when M-Sport completed a memorable trifecta of rally win (through Elfyn Evans), the drivers’/co-drivers’ world titles with Sebastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia, and its third manufacturers’ crown.

«That 17-minute window at Wales Rally GB when we clean swept anything that can be won is the rally I will always cherish,» said Wilson.

«We did it, and to do it with Seb was great. I really wanted to get Seb in 2011, so to have Seb and just the way that him and Julien Ingrassia gelled with the team and the car that year, it was just one of the most amazing moments for me.»

While the team will celebrate this weekend, there is of course the matter of extending this streak to 301 events as Adrien Fourmaux and Gregoire Munster aim to complete Poland’s 19 stages, with special banding on their Ford Pumas offering a constant reminder of the achievement.

M-Sport's stickers celebrating its 300th consecutive point-scoring event

M-Sport’s stickers celebrating its 300th consecutive point-scoring event



Source link

M-Sport reveals Ford Puma for WRC Rally1 debutant Sesks


Martins Sesks is all set to make his top-flight World Rally Championship debut now the covers have come off the non-hybrid powered Ford Puma Rally1 car he will pilot.

Sesks is set to make his Rally1 debut on Poland’s gravel roads next week which hosts the seventh round of the WRC. The event is part of a two-round deal, that includes Sesks’ home round in Latvia (18-21 July), which has been made possible thanks to a collaboration between the driver, M-Sport and the WRC Promoter.

As part of the arrangement, Sesks, the 2023 European Rally Championship runner-up, is set to drive a non-hybrid Ford Puma Rally1 car, marking its first appearance at WRC level in Poland, to aid their transition to the full hybrid version of the car in Latvia.

The FIA passed regulations this year which allows teams to field Rally1 cars without hybrid units with ballast added to compensate for the weight of the plug-in hybrid system.

Sesks jumped behind the wheel of the Puma for a test day in Estonia earlier this week to aid preparations for Poland.

Martins Sesks, Renārs Francis, M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1

Martins Sesks, Renārs Francis, M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1

Photo by: M-Sport

“I’m really excited to be back competing in Poland,» said the 24-year-old Sesks. «We have some great memories here, especially after winning the ERC round last year. For sure this year is a completely different game, this will be our first event in a Rally1 car.

«The testing we did last week was something incredible, and a completely different experience to anything I’ve done before! The car reacts so quickly, and how fast it goes round corners is just so unique and indescribable to anyone who hasn’t driven the car.

“It will be a big challenge to get up to speed, but this is the goal for Poland. We will be driving non-hybrid to get use to the aerodynamics of the car, get to know the team and to get more and more ready to be in good shape for Latvia. The goal is to get the mileage, finish the rally and learn as much as we can.

“The thought and the feeling with this kind of Latvian red-inspired livery was to show how grateful we are for everything that the country has done for us.”

Sesks’ addition to the Rally Poland entry list will see M-Sport field three Ford Pumas with the Latvian joining regulars Adrien Fourmaux and Gregoire Munster. The Pumas will be up against three car entries from Toyota and Hyundai.

Martins Sesks, Renārs Francis, M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1

Martins Sesks, Renārs Francis, M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1

Photo by: M-Sport

Read Also:



Source link

Ford signs Carlos Sainz Sr to lead Dakar Rally programme in 2025


Sainz and double event winner Nani Roma will be two of the four drivers to represent Ford in the prestigious Dakar event in Saudi Arabia next year, with its remaining line-up to be announced at a later date.

This would mark the Spanish driver’s fourth stint with the American auto giant, having periodically competed with its range of cars in a World Rally Championship career that lasted almost 20 years.

It was at the wheel of a Ford Sierra RS that he made his WRC debut back in 1987, before joining the factory team for a handful of events the following season.

He returned to Ford as a two-time WRC champion in 1996, scoring three victories over the following two seasons before heading back to Toyota.

Toyota’s withdrawal at the end of 1999 paved the way for a third stint between 2000-02, which yielded another two wins and a best finish of third in the championship.

Sainz has been hired by Ford after he steered Audi to its first victory in Dakar in January, the culmination of a three-year factory programme that was cut short due to what has been described as a lack of spare parts.

With Ford, Sainz will be targeting a fifth Dakar win with as many manufacturers, having scored his previous four triumphs with Volkswagen, Peugeot, Mini and Audi.

«I’m very excited by this new Dakar Rally project, to go back to working with Ford for the fourth time, and to return to M-Sport, to return to Malcolm [Wilson, founder of M-Sport] who I know very well, it’s really great to be back,» he said. 

«My history with Ford goes all the way back to ’87, and I think I was Malcolm’s first driver, his first ever factory driver, back in the day, and I’m very proud of that.

«I’m really excited to be driving the Raptor truck, and to approach this big challenge with a lot of goals. One is to help Ford win the Dakar Rally.»

 Ford Raptor

Ford Raptor

Photo by: Ford Performance

The American auto giant made the announcement on Friday afternoon, where it also revealed that it has begun active testing with the 2025 Ranger Raptor.

It had already planned to build an all-new Dakar challenger for 2025 after making an explanatory outing in this year’s Dakar with a revised version of the NWM-built Ranger, piloted by Roma and South Africa’s Gareth Woolridge.

Ford dropped a teaser of the new Raptor along with the announcement, showing the rear of the vehicle kicking up dust in a desert.

«The scale of our ambitions in off-road racing is unparalleled in Ford’s recent history and nothing is more clear in that ambition than our challenge to take the Ford Raptor to the legendary Dakar rally,» said Mark Rushbrook, global director, Ford Performance Motorsport. 

«Taking on such an enormous challenge requires the best engineers, designers, team members, navigators and drivers, and in Nani Roma and Carlos Sainz Sr, we have two of the most experienced and successful drivers in Dakar history.

«The Ford Raptor is already showing promising signs in testing and having two of the best drivers in the world with us for the ride gives us confidence for the continued development of the truck.» 



Source link

Ford simulator boosting M-Sport WRC Puma performances


Adrien Fourmaux highlighted that recent simulator sessions in the US played a role in helping improve the M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1’s performance on Croatia’s asphalt stages last weekend.

While Ford is not currently operating as a fully-fledged factory team in the WRC, the blue oval offers support to M-Sport’s WRC programme, which includes access to the Ford Performance Technical Centre’s simulator in America, to help assist the development of the Puma.

Fourmaux says sessions in the simulator have helped transform the Puma’s pace on asphalt significantly since January’s Monte Carlo opener where he finished fifth.

In Croatia, M-Sport debuted a new rear wing which was the first visible performance upgrade on the car this year. Fourmaux scored two stage wins last week including an impressive Power Stage victory that helped him secure 13 championship points.

“I’m really happy because we have come really far with the car since Monte Carlo,” Fourmaux told Autosport/Motorsport.com.

“The car wasn’t good at all on tarmac, we were struggling so much but we have done a lot of development in the simulator and on the test.

“We were searching a little bit at the beginning of the rally but after Friday afternoon where I did the second fastest time, I found a really good set up.

“We have made a big step but there are things we still need to improve and we are working on it to gain some time. It is really positive and we are much closer. We were fighting with Ott all the weekend.

“It [the simulator] is working and I’m really pleased we have done a good job with the car, and it has been working on this rally.

“We are using it as a tool to make the car faster and it is working.”

M-Sport team principal Richard Millener says the simulator access is a valuable resource to the British team in its fight with full manufacturer-backed operations Toyota and Hyundai. 

“Obviously there is only a certain amount of things you can do with it but it allows us to be a little bit more efficient before we go testing as testing regulations are quite restricted,” Millener told Autosport/Motorsport.com.

“It also allows the drivers to have a bit more feedback with the engineers and the design team and keep them thinking all the time about what we can do.

“It gives you a little bit more freedom to come up with some out of the box ideas that we would never try in reality and see what happens.

“It is great that they support us with those things but there are limitations as rallying is very different to circuit racing which is what the simulators are designed for at the moment.

“It is part of the help that Ford give us that not everybody knows about and appreciates the value that is to us as a company.”

Read Also:



Source link

Why tough love has allowed Fourmaux to reach new WRC heights


Three rounds into the 2024 World Rally Championship season, a compelling case could be made for Adrien Fourmaux to be classed as the driver of the season so far. The Frenchman has turned heads on his full-time Rally1 return, exceeding both his and the M-Sport Ford team’s expectations to sit third in the championship standings.

Fifth in the Monte Carlo opener, he then took a first outright podium in the WRC in Sweden before repeating his third place in Kenya. That made Fourmaux the first driver since Dani Sordo in 2006 to follow up a maiden podium with a top-three in their next event.

Fourmaux’s impressive start to 2024 has left him sitting 23 points adrift of championship leader Thierry Neuville. The former doctor in training-turned rally driver is 13 points ahead of Neuville’s Hyundai team-mate Ott Tanak, the man he replaced at M-Sport this year. But the key statistic that outlines Fourmaux’s stark turnaround in form is this: he has already eclipsed his entire 2022 tally by 31 points after three rounds.

This improvement can seemingly be attributed to a strategy of stepping backwards to go forward, employed by M-Sport, renowned cultivators of young rally talent. It’s an approach that three-time WRC runner-up Elfyn Evans and 2019 world champion Tanak know all too well.

«In all honestly, I didn’t expect us to be third in the drivers’ championship,» M-Sport boss Malcolm Wilson tells Motorsport.com. «I probably didn’t expect to get back-to-back podiums, but Adrien has got them by being smart.

«The thing about rally is it is a long process [to be successful]. Sadly, there is no quick route unless you are absolutely exceptional like a Sebastien Loeb or whatever. You have to look at how long it took with Ott and Elfyn and how long it has taken with Adrien. There is no short cut, unfortunately.»

Fourmaux has shown superb form since returning to a Rally1 seat after a year out of the spotlight

Fourmaux has shown superb form since returning to a Rally1 seat after a year out of the spotlight

Photo by: McKlein / McMaster

Fourmaux burst onto the top-flight rally scene with M-Sport in 2021, finishing fifth in Croatia on his first outing in a full WRC car. He went on to score a maiden stage win in Kenya that season, finishing five of eight rallies inside the top seven. Such form created plenty of excitement and growing expectation that M-Sport had found the driver who could be France’s next rallying hero after Sebastien Loeb and Sebastien Ogier, as Motorsport.com discussed at the time here.

But the following season, the first of the hybrid Rally1 era, proved to be a nightmare campaign for Fourmaux, headlined by high-profile crashes and reliability issues. M-Sport kept the faith with its young driver, having seen his abundant potential, but made the difficult call to drop him back to the lower Rally2 tier for 2023. This was combined with an ultimately successful programme in the British Rally Championship that yielded the title that Wilson himself won in 1994 and Evans managed in 2016.

Taking young guns out of the top tier and placing them in Rally2 for a season or two is a tried-and-tested method the team has utilised on more than one occasion. It did so with Tanak and now Toyota star Evans when the pair were at the Cumbria stable, and it appears to be working again with Fourmaux.

«What we did last year has had a big influence on where he is now. He is a very clever boy, and he now understands what he needs to do»
Malcolm Wilson

«Pushing these drivers back into Rally2 seems to work,» smiles Wilson. «It worked with Elfyn, it worked with Ott and now it seems to have worked with Adrien.

«In fairness, Adrien is not doing anything more 1713289450 probably than what I always felt he was capable of. But what we did last year has had a big influence on where he is now. Obviously, as you can imagine I’m delighted, but he is a very clever boy, and he now understands what he needs to do and that is the bit I love to see when working with these guys.

«It is about maturing and understanding what makes the world go round. He is now starting to show the potential that I have always believed he had.»

The similarities with Fourmaux’s growth in ability and confidence to those of Tanak and Evans after their seasons in Rally2 are telling. Tanak’s first top-tier WRC full-time campaign with M-Sport in 2012 was far from being disastrous. The Estonian picked up 52 points and scored a maiden podium in Sardinia. On his return to the WRC top class in 2015 after a spell in Rally2, he picked up 63 points and by 2017 was an established winner capable of pushing Ogier and Neuville in the championship.

Sending drivers back to the less-pressured environment of WRC2 is a tactic M-Sport has employed previously with great success for Tanak (pictured) and Evans

Sending drivers back to the less-pressured environment of WRC2 is a tactic M-Sport has employed previously with great success for Tanak (pictured) and Evans

Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images

Likewise, Evans dropped back to Rally2 in 2016 after two seasons in the main class with M-Sport which had yielded two podiums. The 2015 campaign was his best, finishing seventh overall with 89 points. The Welshman then spent 2016 building confidence in WRC2, winning three rounds and only missing out on the title by 10 points to Esapekka Lappi alongside his BRC exploits.

When drafted back into M-Sport’s WRC team for 2017, Evans scored a maiden win and two podiums while amassing 128 points to finish fifth in the standings. Since joining Toyota in 2020, he has become a regular title contender.

Demoting a driver from a seat in rallying’s top tier to Rally2 can understandably be interpreted as a negative move. But even if they don’t want to admit it, for some drivers it appears exactly the right call for their career. Wilson says the thinking behind the strategy is always centred around creating an environment to allow the driver to rediscover the confidence required to unlock their potential.

«I’m not going to give all my secrets away,» Wilson jokes when asked to elaborate on the tactic. «There is no rocket science to it. Personally, what it does do and if you look at all of them, they all had a difficult season in Rally1 cars, so the confidence is not where it needs to be.

«For me, so much of this job is about confidence and being happy with driving. The opportunity to get back in the Rally1 car and the confidence and success from Rally2 helps. It is all about being in the right frame of mind.»

Fourmaux himself has acknowledged that he learned a huge amount last season competing in Rally2 machinery, despite the initial frustrations of being dropped from the Rally1 line-up. A season away from the spotlight has not only helped Fourmaux find his confidence, but he’s also improved his ability to manage WRC rallies. Learning when to push and back off has reaped rewards in each of 2024’s opening rallies that present unique challenges. But above all of that, Fourmaux is enjoying his driving again, a commodity that shouldn’t be forgotten.

«It was not a bad thing to do [to go back to Rally2],» a reflective Fourmaux tells Motorsport.com. «It was really frustrating at the beginning, but now looking at where I am and what we have done, it is really positive.

Wilson knows that rebuilding confidence can be crucial for allowing drivers to unlock their potential

Wilson knows that rebuilding confidence can be crucial for allowing drivers to unlock their potential

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

«I think it was the right decision to make because I could be myself and put a lot of things away and just focus on getting back to the feeling of driving and enjoying. In 2022, in the end, I wasn’t enjoying it all because the pressure was there, and it was negative pressure at times.

«I prefer to have positive pressure, so in the end, it was just better to be in Rally2. There was much more focus on Ott and Pierre-Louis [Loubet] and I just had to drive and deliver the best result. Now I can accept pressure from the team to deliver because I know I am capable of doing it.

«I have been working on some details, we have gained some reliability [in the team] and also some comfort, but it is all about preparation and how to manage rallies. I think the experience was also a big part. In rallies, you could be leading or fighting for a position, and you still have to manage your tyres, car and you have to be smart. I have been working a lot on that last year and that has helped me transfer that to Rally1 now.

«We have given him the tools to do the job, and the fact that he has matured, we are both seeing the benefits»
Malcolm Wilson

«In 2022 it was not always my fault, the car was breaking down as well, so there were a few rallies where I didn’t score points with a reliability issue. For sure the team has been making some progress, the car has been reliable, which is really positive. It is small details that make the difference.»

Another key aspect in Fourmaux’s arsenal is his ability to act as a team player and endear himself to his colleagues, which will bode well as he aims to continue his upward trajectory. This was perhaps best showcased in 2022 after his frightening Monte Carlo accident when Fourmaux arrived at M-Sport’s Dovenby workshop spanner-in-hand to help his mechanics repair his Ford Puma.

Wilson believes this side of Fourmaux’s character will only add to his growth as a driver and his ability to unlock the most from his M-Sport package.

«I have been saying to him that he has an incredible opportunity, and he can make this his team,» Wilson adds. «He can have everybody working for him and that is what he is doing. This, combined with how he has got his head around finishing events, is the whole package that is coming together.

Following his maiden podium in Sweden, Fourmaux doubled up in Kenya to underline his maturity

Following his maiden podium in Sweden, Fourmaux doubled up in Kenya to underline his maturity

Photo by: M-Sport

«He learned a lot of things last year and we had some good discussions about how to tackle it. He was very clear about what he wanted from the engineers. We have given him the tools to do the job, and the fact that he has matured, we are both seeing the benefits.»

This weekend’s visit to Croatia offers up the next test for Fourmaux 2.0, who is eager to add a podium on asphalt to his gravel and snow successes on an event that after the high of 2021 featured one of the low points of his 2022 season. Caught out on a wet patch, his crash into the garden of a residential property inflicted chassis damage that prevented him from rejoining.

It is no secret that M-Sport and Fourmaux have taken a strategic approach to the first three rallies, which has been executed expertly, but now the WRC enters a series of performance rallies where the focus will turn more to outright speed.

«Let’s not kid ourselves we are now moving into a part of the season where a lot more focus will be on performance,» says Wilson. «But he has been doing a lot of work on that and he has been quick in Croatia before. The next few events are going to be another step for him.

«This will be another step on the ladder for Adrien and I’d be very happy if he can finish in the top five in Croatia.»

Can Fourmaux continue his strong start to 2024 as the WRC returns to Tarmac?

Can Fourmaux continue his strong start to 2024 as the WRC returns to Tarmac?

Photo by: M-Sport



Source link

M-Sport set to debut WRC Puma upgrade in Croatia


The British squad has been working on the aerodynamic performance upgrade since last year, before opting to delay its rollout until the 2024 season.

Following a successful test last week, the team has confirmed that it plans to fit the new component to its cars for next week’s asphalt rally. Drivers Adrien Fourmaux and Gregoire Munster each chalked up more than 250km of running during their pre-event test days.

«Our plan is to introduce it in Croatia. Everything has gone okay with that, to be honest, and that was always the kind of date we were trying to aim for,» M-Sport team principal Richard Millener told Motorsport.com.

«It [the rear wing] is not suddenly going to make us 10 seconds a kilometre faster. There are only small things you can do, and it is small tweaks that we are looking for at the moment.

«This should help us in the higher speed stuff and combined with a couple of other set-up changes, it can make a difference to the car. It is constant development, we are a little bit later than the other teams on the rear wing, but we are trying to stay as close as we can to the opposition.»

Adrien Fourmaux, Alexandre Coria, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Ford Puma Rally1

Adrien Fourmaux, Alexandre Coria, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Ford Puma Rally1

Photo by: M-Sport

M-Sport has enjoyed a strong start to the 2024 campaign highlighted by back-to-back podium finishes in Sweden and Kenya for Fourmaux, who is sitting third in the championship after three rounds.

Team-mate Munster has picked up three points after a difficult start to the season that included a minor off in Monte Carlo, a puncture in Sweden and a broken suspension in Kenya.

Reflecting on the start of the season, Millener is proud of the team’s efforts thus far which have outlined the strength of the Puma Rally1.

«I think it is just underlining what we have said last year about the car being okay is being shown here,» Millener added.

«We have had a slightly different approach this year we have less expectation. We have Adrien in a strong place mentally and physically and approach the rallies as he needs to with the goal of collecting as many points as possible. Consistency is going to be key for us to do well and I think that has been shown.

«We have had very good reliability touch wood up until now and we have to try and continue that in Croatia. We can be very happy.»

Watch: Safari Rally Kenya Sunday afternoon highlights



Source link