Fourmaux wants to “enjoy the moment” on the Ypres rally

On the Rally of Ypres, the WRC va retrouver l’asphalte pour la première fois depuis le Rallye de Croatie, en avril dernier. Après les cinq épreuves sur terre consécutives, le bilan de M-Sport est très peu gracieux : un seul podium (Breen, 2e au Rallye de Sardaigne) et seulement 95 points d’inscrits sur les cinq dernières manches, contre 213 pour Toyota. À l’image des difficultés de l’écurie britannique, Adrien fourmaux is also struggling: the Frenchman has only scored 9 points this season and has had one series of mishaps, rally after rally.

However, the Lille resident is not discouraged. Ahead of the Flemish event, which takes place around forty kilometers from his home, Adrien Fourmaux hopes to finally emerge from the shadows in front of his audience. “It’s the closest rally to my house of the season, less than an hour from my house. I hope to see a lot of fans and enjoy the moment. My goal this week is just to regain some confidence on the tarmac and finish the rally in a decent position. »

Despite his accident during the 2021 edition, which forced him to retire from SS3, Adrien Fourmaux does not hide his affection for the Belgian rally. The M-Sport driver explains, however, that if the test seems easy on the surface, it is much less so in reality. “I'm happy to be back in Ypres and back on the Tarmac on what is a very technical rally. There are a lot of different grip levels here, and a lot of junctions where we need to be quick and efficient. There are a lot of very fast sections that are quite narrow with little grip on entry, so we have to stay focused on that.

Confidence reigns at M-Sport in Ypres

For the M-Sport team, out of the running in both championships, the objective is now to continue developing the Ford Puma for next season. If the car is not intrinsically slow, it still lacks regularity and reliability. But for Richard Millener, director of the British team, the Puma showed positive signals on the asphalt. “We are confident for this rally. We know the Puma is strong on the tarmac, so we'll see what we can do and if we can come back to Cumbria with some trophies in the trunk. »

With the absence of Rally Great Britain this year, the Ypres Rally will be geographically closest to the M-Sport base. Richard Millener wanted to remind us how important the support of supporters is despite the complicated season. “Most of our team will travel to Ypres and I think many fans will make the same trip. It's fantastic to see the fans back on the stages, many of them have stuck with us through the good times and the tough times, and I'm looking forward to seeing many of them again this week. » Let us therefore wish Fourmaux and company to make their audience happy in Ypres.

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