The Latvian youngster Mārtiņš Sesks has now taken the covers off on his Ford Puma Rally1 machine and showed his stunning livery, a car which he will use on his debut in the top tier class of Rally1 in the FIA World Rally Championship in ORLEN 80th Rally Poland on 27-30 June.
For the fast Polish gravel stages the 24-year-old will get to drive the very first non-hybrid Rally1 car with support from the WRC Promoter and M-Sport World Rally Team but for the following round of his home rally in Latvia he will get an upgrade where he gets to drive the hybrid variant of the same car.
Last year he won the Rally Poland while it was still part of the FIA European Rally Championship, Sesks also had a successful year driving for the MRF Tyres tean as he became vice-champion in the Rally2 class.
“I always had red cars during my career, actually, starting from go-karts but the second thing is that we wanted to show our gratefulness for Latvia and the amazing people and fans who are supporting us to bring these Latvian colours to the world championship. I think the design looks amazing and it gives a bit more colour to the championship,” he added. “I think these are the two main points.” Sesks said.
Sesks and his co-driver Renars Francis experienced the non-hybrid Ford on a test on Monday (17 June) and this he had to say about the test: “The test was on Monday, and I think it was the fastest Monday I’ve ever had. It was something incredible. It’s really hard to even somehow explain it to somebody who hasn’t driven the car. The feeling of downforce is something that you cannot feel anywhere else, except maybe in Formula 1, I think. When you drive fast, you can drive faster, and when you drive faster the car is handling better. It’s something that you need to learn and save in your brain and trust it. It will not be easy throughout the rallies, but I’m really excited to learn it.”
ORLEN 80th Rally Poland will take place next weekend on 27-30 June and it marks its return to the FIA WRC calendar for first time after a seven year hiatus. Before the rally in Poland, Sesks will be driving a hybrid variant of the Ford in the WRC Rally Show Warsaw in the Polish capital.
