Gus Greensmith and Chris Patterson raced the last rally together in Spain, home to the penultimate event of the WRC 2021. The crew of the M-Sport team announced on the eve of the event that the Rally of Spain would be the last outing. together.
Chris Patterson had in fact decided to retire again at the end of the season, this time permanently, but to do so before the last race. A choice that, at first glance, may seem singular. It actually makes sense and contains several meanings.
First of all, the last sporting act – very nice – against the pilot who has been sailing for several months. With the retirement after the Spanish Rally, Patterson will allow Greensmith to race the last round of the season to be held in Monza with the new navigator.
“It was all clear from the start,” said Chris Patterson at the end of the Rally of Spain, an event which ended in sixth place overall. “I returned from retirement for a season, so to allow Gus to have excellent chances for Monte-Carlo, he will have a new navigator starting from the ACI Rally Monza Italia”.
“In such a way that you can already get comfortable and then get to Monte-Carlo ready. Monte-Carlo is a very important rally for Ford and for Gus, but also for M-Sport. It is important for Gus to start preparing for the Rallye Monte-Carlo and what happened was already clear from the start. “
In his explanation, Patterson probably gave a very important clue regarding Greensmith’s future, but also the choice M-Sport should make regarding the third official crew for the 2022 WRC season.
Ford Puma WRC Rally1
Photo by: WRC.com
Currently M-Sport has only Craig Breen under contract, made official a few days ago and back from an excellent season as fourth crew of Hyundai Motorsport. Adrien Fourmaux has not yet been made official, but he is taking part in all the tests of the new Ford Puma Rally1 hybrid that he will race starting next season, so his reconfirmation is only a matter of days.
Instead, the last piece is missing. The names of who will pilot and navigate the third Puma Rally1. This is how Patterson’s words “Monte-Carlo is a very important rally for Ford and for Gus, but also for M-Sport. It is important for Gus to start preparing for the Monte-Carlo Rally and what happened was already clear from the start “may hold the clue to Gus’s future.
It is no coincidence that, just before the Rally of Spain, M-Sport team principal Richard Millener himself said that the choice of the third crew for 2022 will not be so imaginative.
“We are making good progress, to be honest, but I don’t want to race and say something. We will probably finish the season and formalize the other line ups for 2022. I don’t think there will be any shocking announcements about who will race our cars in 2022. We are working on some things behind the scenes that could alter what we do or need to do. The announcement will come, but not in the next few days. “
Meanwhile Greensmith has announced that he will formalize the name of the new navigator with whom he will race at the ACI Rally Monza Italy and in the next season as soon as possible.
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