M-Sport Ford World Rally Team gears up for the ninth round of the FIA World Rally Championship this week on one of the season’s toughest events, Secto Rally Finland. Known fondly as the Gravel Grand Prix, Finland’s frighteningly fast stages lined with trees and punctuated by jumps sets the scene for one of the biggest challenges so far in 2024.
M-Sport will field two of its Ford Puma Rally1 cars in the hands of Adrien Fourmaux and Grégoire Munster, alongside a Ford Fiesta Rally2 driven by William Creighton in the WRC2 support category.
Based in Jyväskylä, the regional capital of Central Finland within the Finnish Lakeland, the rally begins on Thursday evening with classic Super Special action on the local Harju stage (which will run again on Friday evening) and is once again set to attract thousands of fans. Two full days of rally action follow, both hosting a loop of stages run twice with a mid-point service. Sunday’s half-day will end on the classic Laajavuori Power Stage featuring the iconic jump, where Fourmaux famously launched his Fiesta WRC 68 metres through the air after the finish in 2021.
Adrien Fourmaux and Alex Coria return to Finland for the fifth time, after a strong performance on last year’s edition in a Fiesta Rally2. The pairing claimed an impressive second overall in the WRC2 support category after a strong showing throughout the weekend, claiming two WRC2 stage wins. One of Fourmaux’s favourite events for its fast-paced, loose surface, the Frenchman made his top-level debut here in 2021 with an impressive seventh overall finish.
After a strong first half of the season, recently claiming a surprise fourth overall in Latvia, Fourmaux will take his experiences in Poland and Latvia as solid preparation for Finland. Still very much in championship podium contention, sitting fifth in the standings and 31 points off third, the Frenchman will aim for a clean and fast drive to collect valuable points to set himself up for the rest of the season.
Their first appearance in Finland in Rally1 machinery, Grégoire Munster and Louis Louka will add more experience to their roster in Jyväskylä this week as they pass the mid-point of their first full season in WRC.
Building strong groundwork in both Poland and Latvia, finishing fifth and ninth respectively, Munster has seen improvements in pace across previous rallies which he will hope to utilise in Finland. A season of learning for the Luxembourger, Finland will mark another significant chapter in Munster’s growing experience and his induction into top-level machinery and he benefits from two previous appearances here to date in WRC2.
William Creighton and Liam Regan will make their first-ever appearance Finland in a Ford Fiesta Rally2. After a strong weekend in Latvia, placing fifth in WRC2 and fourth in the WRC2 Challenger category, Creighton will look to carry the same impressive pace into this weekend in Finland. Although a brand-new challenge to the Irish pairing, momentum from Latvia should well carry them through into some of the most iconic stages in rallying.
Richard Millener, Team Principal, said:
“Although it hasn’t been long at all since our last rally, I am excited to be heading out to Finland. The rally heritage here always brings such an incredible atmosphere with fans in the service park and on the stages. High-speed rallies always bring that extra element of tension, and in Finland anything can happen with trees so close to the road and these twisty forest sections!
“Poland and Latvia have provided some good preparation for the ultimate fast-gravel rally here in Finland. Adrien has some good experience here, and he’s delivered some very strong results so far this season, so I think everyone is looking to see what he can do here. Grégoire will have some work to do to adapt to the increased speed from the Rally1 car here, and William has a whole new set of notes to work on! It should be an interesting event for all the teams and I’m excited to see what the podium looks like on Sunday.”
Adrien Fourmaux said:
“This will be my third time in Finland in a Rally1 car, it’s a rally I really like and shows the legacy of the championship. We’ve got a really famous stages back in the rally, Ouninpohja [32,98 KM], it’s going to be a big stage for the championship and I’m pleased its back - it’ll be a new stage for me to do it at full-length! I’m just happy to be back in Finland and we’re hoping for another good result and to get back on the podium again.”
Grégoire Munster said:
“In terms of preparation for Finland, we’ve done some onboard comparisons with Adrien and Mārtiņš from the previous events, and it’s been valuable to learn the differences in driving style and the inputs in terms of braking in order carry to speed through these fast corners. So, we’ll try to use all that knowledge in Finland and look to get a good result.
“The thing with Finland is that we have some experience here and knowledge of the stages, there are always some new ones here but we can prepare by watching the onboards, so we have some good insight heading into the recce and the rally itself.”
William Creighton said:
“I’m looking forward to experiencing my first Finland – it’s going to be a challenge on this type of event for our first time, but we’ll use the opportunity to work on making good pacenotes and build on our last event in Latvia.
“This is one of the most special events in the WRC and I have no doubt there will be lots of Irish support on the side of the roads this weekend!”
Published 30th July 2024
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