Old Ford chassis return to Türkiye

Le Rally de Turquie sera l’occasion pour M-Sport de reprendre du poil de la bête, la dernière victoire de l’équipe britannique et de Sébastien Ogier going back to the Tour de Corse last April. In addition, the five-time world champion is struggling to catch up with the championship leader Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) et se voit même menacer par Ott Tänak (Toyota) qui reste sur deux succès.

After testing the new version of the Ford Fiesta WRC, M-Sport preferred to return to the old model for the Rally of Turkey which will be contested on a new route. The latest developments made to the car do not seem to have brought any clear progress. Malcolm Wilson's team prepared for the event by carrying out tests in Greece with Sébastien Ogier and Elfyn Evans.

“Even though I competed in this rally in 2010 (4th), it will be a completely new event where no one really knows what to expect, comments the Frenchman who will open the road just behind Thierry Neuville in the first stage. Will there be a lot of work to do during reconnaissance? Julien (Ingrassia, the co-pilot) will have to write notes for each kilometer. »

“We will aim for the best possible result, but the loose soil will complicate things, adds the tricolor pilot. Many fast drivers will benefit from sweeping. We will have to stay in contact as much as possible on Friday morning and then we will see where we are. The most important thing is to score a lot of points in the fight for the title. »

M-Sport justified its choice to return to the old chassis due to the relatively low average speeds at the Rally of Turkey making the developments less important in the face of proven reliability.