Sesks in a Ford Puma Rally1 in 2 events of the 2024 WRC

European Rally Championship driver Martins Sesks will soon make his WRC debut at the wheel of a Ford Puma Rally1 thanks to the support of the WRC promoters.

The agreement sees Sesks and his co-driver, Francis Renars, race together in two consecutive rallies. We are talking about the Polish Rally, which is back on the calendar this year and which will be held from 27 to 30 June, and the following one in Latvia set for 18 to 21 June.

In addition to this, the crew will be able to race with a Rally1 car, but without a hybrid in the first outing in Poland. They will have the electric engine combined with the thermal one available in Latvia.

This will be possible thanks to the rule approved by the FIA ​​only recently, which allows the Rally1 car to run without a hybrid, but with ballast designed to replace the electric package provided by Compact Dynamics in terms of weight.

Sesks, 24 years old, is racing this year at the wheel of a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 after racing at the wheel of a Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 in 2023, also winning the Polish and Latvian rallies and finishing second in the championship behind by Hayden Paddon.

“I am sincerely grateful, as it is a dream come true, to join forces with the M-Sport World Rally Team and the WRC promoter for this amazing opportunity to move from Rally2 to Rally1 level,” Sesks said.

“I have to admit that it needs to be said twice to believe that we will soon be competing alongside the world's greatest drivers in Rally1 cars.”

“The journey to this point has been a huge effort by many people, particularly my family, whose rallying heritage dates back to my grandfather's inaugural event in Liepaja in 1965. Now, 59 years later, I have the opportunity to participate in the same rally but as a WRC event”.

“While adapting to Rally1 machinery will undoubtedly require our attention and commitment, we are ready to give it our all. The fact that we have been tasked with piloting the first non-hybrid appearance of the Puma Rally1 makes it all the more exciting for us to see what the future holds.”

Richard Millener, team principal at M-Sport, believes Sesks is the “perfect candidate” to debut the new non-hybrid version of the Puma.

“I am very happy to be working on this project with Martins and the WRC organiser, taking advantage of the new regulations for 2024 which allow us to race the Rally1 cars without the hybrid unit,” said Millener.

“Not to mention that it is a more economical solution for customer drivers, allowing drivers like Martins to transition to Rally1 more easily, thus expanding the Rally1 field.”

“Martins has an impressive CV and is a perfect candidate for the debut of this new non-hybrid strategy. It was a good opportunity to get him some time in Poland before racing the full hybrid in his home event. It will be fantastic to see Martins driving the best rally cars there are in front of his home fans.”