Richard Millener: M-Sport is not there to make up the numbers

This is on land where the Ford Fiesta WRC established itself last year with Sébastien Ogier que se présentera en fin de semaine prochaine le M-Sport Ford WRT.

A result which, on paper, should be complicated to repeat for Elfyn Evans and Teemu Suninen, but the two residents of the British team demonstrated an interesting pace in Sweden, and will be able to count on a favorable position on the road.

" It's the first rally land of the year and I can't wait to see what we can do, comments Richard Millener, M-Sport Team Principal. I think we have made our intentions clear in Sweden.

With five stage victories, we are not just here to make up the numbers. We are here to fight for the best results, and I think we will have a good chance of doing that next week.

Both Elfyn and Teemu have the speed for it. They will both have a good road position on the first day which we will have to make the most of. We need to work on our consistency, but if we can do that, I don't see any reason why we can't bring home some trophies. »

Suninen remains cautious

Very visible during the first ES in Sweden, Teemu Suninen could well show his advantage on the Mexican tracks. However, the Finn does not have as much experience as his teammate Elfyn Evans (who twice finished 4th on this rally), or as the other top drivers.

“The feelings were really good (in testing), but there is always a little uncertainty when we arrive at the rallies because we don't know what our rivals did, recalls Suninen.

We had the same feeling before Sweden, but our pace was good and we had the speed to fight for the best results. I don't know if we will be able to compete against the best next week, but we are all working very hard and the team has put a lot of effort into developing the Fiesta.

I will benefit from a distant starting position, but this is not always a good thing because there could be a lot of stones brought into the trajectory. The key for me will be to drive cleanly and combine consistency and speed. »

M-Sport, in partnership with Ford Performance, brought notable developments on the Ford Fiesta before the start of the season at the Monte-Carlo Rally, including new engine developments, on which both Suninen and Evans intend to rely.