M-Sport Ford World Rally Team begins its journey to South America for the eleventh round of the 2024 FIA World Rally Championship on Rally Chile Bio Bío next week.
Marking the final gravel event of the season, Chile’s challenging and technical forest stages eagerly await M-Sport’s three Rally1 crews. With complexities caused by high altitudes and prevailing weather conditions as spring-time downpours constantly loom, this final gravel round promises more iconic WRC tension.
Adrien Fourmaux and Grégoire Munster are joined once again by Mārtiņš Sesks, who will line up in a third Ford Puma Rally1. Competing in a non-hybrid version of the car, as he did on his debut in Poland, Sesks will enjoy another outing with M-Sport on gravel in Chile.
After impressing on both his non-hybrid and hybrid debuts in Poland and Latvia (claiming his maiden WRC stage wins and pushing for the podium positions on the latter, his home rally), Sesks earned himself another drive with the team.
Joined again by co-driver Renārs Francis, the Latvian pairing also made their Ford Fiesta Rally2 debut in Spain last weekend, claiming second overall and completing their warm up for Chile in good spirits.
Grégoire Munster and Louis Louka return to Chile after making their Rally1 debut here just last year. Now with a year’s experience in the Puma and a full set of notes at their disposal, the pairing will hope to make a good impression of this last gravel round of the season.
Munster faced a tough weekend on Rally Greece earlier this month, but gained some more valuable experience on loose surface events which he will look to carry with him to Chile.
Meanwhile, Adrien Fourmaux and Alex Coria are set to compete in Chile for the first time. After a fantastic season for the French pairing, including four podiums and a recent Power Stage win on loose surfaces so far, they will look to make a strong impression in South America next week.
Richard Millener, Team Principal, said:
“I’m really excited to be heading back to South America for Rally Chile, especially since we are fielding three Rally1 cars there. I’m pleased to have Mārtiņš back with us in the non-hybrid Puma, his performances earlier this season have really made him stand out and I’m looking forward to seeing what he makes of this opportunity.
“Grégoire will benefit from last year’s experience here, and with more time in the car since then he should feel quite comfortable. Hopefully he can hunt for a good result next week after a tricky weekend in Greece.
“Adrien and Alex will be taking on this event for the first time but I strongly believe they are up to the task! They’ve proven their pace on gravel with four podiums on loose surfaces already this season, notably in Finland. I’m excited to see what they can do here.”
Adrien Fourmaux said:
“It’s going to be all new for me on this event, last year I was back in France commentating for Canal+! It’s nice to be competing in South America, and I’m excited to discover Chile and the rally itself. Looking at the videos it seems to be quite a fast and smooth rally in some stages, but also quite technical in places – it’s not rough like Greece.
“We still want to get our first win so we are going to try again on this final gravel rally of the season!”
Grégoire Munster said:
“I’m looking forward to Rally Chile as it was our first event with the Rally1 car last year. The surface is quite familiar with some loose gravel, but the tyre wear on the second day is incredibly high so you have that strategic aspect of the tyre choice that makes it very interesting.
“It’s a fast rally, but there are still some very narrow roads up in the mountains, there’s a lot of variety in the stages so it’s quite a nice event.”
Mārtiņš Sesks said:
“Of course it will be a big challenge to go to South America and drive a Rally1 car in Chile for the first time. It will be a great adventure I think, something new again and we’re now trying to prepare for the rally. We’re watching the onboards and seeing similar things to some European rallies.
“It will be a bit harder for us driving the non-hybrid car, but again it’s an opportunity to show some pace without the hybrid, and if we succeed there it’s even better. Our experience from Poland and Latvia in understanding the car will help a lot. It will be a challenge but we’re looking forward to it!”