Martins Sesks will discover the Ford Puma Rally1

A little breath of fresh air will blow through the premier category in the coming weeks. Under the leadership of the promoter of WRC and M-Sport, an operation will be set up around Martins Sesks. The 24-year-old Latvian who currently plays in ERC with a Toyota Yaris Rally2 will have the opportunity to compete in two rounds of the world calendar. He will first be present in Poland (June 27-30) then at home for his country's very first entry in the WRC (July 18-21).

In order not to "burn" him immediately by giving him a monstrous Rally1 at the wheel of which he will probably not have done much testing, it was decided that he would start on a Puma without a hybrid. In addition to observing the performance of this hopeful who already has several Junior titles (ERC3 2018, ERC Junior U27 2018, Latvia Junior 2018, etc.), it will be interesting to see how this machine behaves, which could represent the future of the discipline if the FIA ​​endorses this idea (2025 and 2026).

🤯 Martins Sesks will both be competing in Rally Poland & Rally Latvia this year in non other than one of our Puma Rally1's!

He will debut in Poland with the new non hybrid Puma & Latvia will see him competing in a full spec Puma 😎

Martins, Welcome to the team🙌 pic.twitter.com/CYYOZ2LDP0

- M-Sport (@MSportLtd) April 22, 2024

After this first experience, the man who has already won three times in the ERC, including 2 last year in Poland and Latvia (!), will move up a notch this time with the same Puma asAdrien fourmaux or Grégoire Munster. His knowledge of the field will be an asset and one less parameter to discover for his 2^e appearance.

« We identified the need to put more resources into supporting the next generation of potential WRC world champions and helping them make the difficult step from the support categories to the highest echelon of our sport., enthuses Peter Thul, senior director of sport at WRC Promoter. Martins’ performances over the past two ERC seasons have made him a worthy beneficiary of this support. He showed his winning spirit in Latvia and Poland, and we believe that in time he will become a WRC regular. »

“I am very happy to be working on this project with Martins and WRC Promoter, taking advantage of the new regulations for 2024 allowing us to run the Rally1 cars without the hybrid unit,” said Richard Millener, team manager of M- Sport.

« I am sincerely grateful, as it is a dream come true to partner with the M-Sport team and the promoter of the WRC, reacted Martins Sesks. It's a remarkable opportunity and I admit that I had to think twice to believe that we will soon be competing alongside the best drivers in the world on a Rally1. »

This remarkable first action by the promoter marks the desire to try to grow the Rally1 category. Other announcements are expected soon.