M-Sport had to restart and decided to do so completely, today revealing its driver line-up for the 2024 WRC which is completely new compared to last season.
With Ott Tanak back in Hyundai Motorsport, Pierre-Louis Loubet has also been shelved (he will probably race in WRC2) to make room for the return of Adrien Fourmaux and the real, big news of the season: Gregoire Munster.
For Fourmaux it is a return to the wheel of the Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid, because he had already been a part-time starter in the 2021 season with mixed results. Very fast on asphalt and still improving on dirt, the Frenchman was the author of a terrible accident at the Rallye Monte-Carlo two years ago, emerging unscathed.
The results over the course of the season spoke well of Adrien's situation: fast, but too prone to mistakes. In short, the ability to decide on when and how much to push is still revisable, accompanied by experience that is far from sufficient to perform well for an entire season.
After a good 2023 in WRC2 with the Ford Fiesta Rally2 Evo, Adrien will be the spearhead of M-Sport and will once again be supported by Alex Coria, his co-driver for a few seasons now.
“I am very happy to return to Rally1 for 2024. Reaching this milestone was the main goal of the 2023 season and I am excited to return for a full season with Puma next year,” said Fourmaux.
“I am grateful to M-Sport, Ford and Red Bull for having the faith in me and giving me another year at the top level, allowing me to demonstrate my abilities.”
“I enjoyed being part of the development of the Fiesta Rally2 in 2023 and I think this will help me for next season with the Rally1 car. It will be a very interesting season for everyone, especially with the new regulations and points system.”
“We have a clear plan to work hard and achieve the best possible results, to support the team and bring it back to where it deserves to be. I am also very proud to be the only French driver to contest the entire season at the top level of the WRC.”
Photo by: M-Sport
Grégoire Munster, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team
Gregoire Munster will instead have the great opportunity of his career. After showing good things during the two debut rallies with the Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid in 2023, he will now be able to do the entire season. Of course, he will need patience and M-Sport – at least in recent years – has shown that he doesn't have that much.
The talent, however, seems to have been glimpsed and will need to be refined, perhaps avoiding making a series of mistakes and staying on the road as much as possible to learn, but also to show the team that they didn't make a wrong choice. Gregoire will also be sailed in 2024 by Louis Luka.
“Driving almost the whole season in WRC2 in 2023 was very positive, it's the first time I had the chance to participate in almost all the WRC events and accumulate kilometres,” Munster said.
“The two rallies with Puma helped me a lot to prepare for Rally1 in 2024. The work within the M-Sport team was also incredibly useful: the WRC2 and Rally1 teams are all within the same structure, so it's a good preparation for Rally1 to feel at home.”
“I'm looking forward to starting in Monte-Carlo and the objective for 2024 will be first and foremost to obtain good results and increase the pace rally after rally, trying not to make mistakes and gain experience. We will drive against the world champions, so it will be a great challenge, but I'm looking forward to it.”
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