Adrien Fourmaux and the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team had high hopes for the FIA European Rally Championship but a “little mistake” cost him dearly in the first rally of the season.
Despite starting last weekend’s Rally di Roma Capitale in good form while driving the Ford Fiesta R5 MkII, Fourmaux picked up a puncture in the last five kilometres of the opening stage. This was only the beginning of the 25-year-old’s troubled day as a high-speed crash ended his rally in a spectacular way soon after.
“In stage two it was totally unexpected,” Frenchman Fourmaux said. “In the really fast corner, I was too close to a block in the wall and it broke something on the front wheel and we finished away on the mountain. There was a white thing in front of the wall. I couldn’t see the line and I turned too early, I was too close to the wall and broke something. It was a little bumpy part just before.”
“After the car rolled it was over for us. It was a really little mistake with big consequences and it’s not really nice but it’s part of the game, it’s rally and sometimes it doesn’t work for us. It’s always difficult after four months to get back in the car and to be really precise and know exactly where your wheel is when it’s really fast. For sure we’ll be stronger for that.”
The Frenchman had been competing on the event in a return to the sport ahead of the restart of the FIA World Rally Championship in September, where he competes alongside WRC2 teammate Rhys Yates for the Cumbrian team.
The next round of the FIA European Rally Championship is Rally Liepāja in Latvia over the weekend of August 14-16.
