Last January 9th, M-Sport tested a new rear wing for the first time during a development test carried out on asphalt, a few days before its seasonal debut at the Rallye Monte-Carlo. The new appendage, however, has never been used in the race and will not be used until next weekend.
The British team has decided to introduce the new rear wing at the Croatian Rally, the fourth round of the 2024 World Rally Championship, to try to give more performance to the Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid.
“Our plan is to introduce the new wing at Rally Croatia,” said M-Sport Ford team principal Richard Millener. “Everything went well, if I'm honest, and that's always what we try to achieve.” .
“The rear wing definitely won't make us go 10 seconds faster per kilometer than before. There are just little things that can be worked on.”
Adrien Fourmaux, Alexandre Coria, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Ford Puma Rally1
Photo credit: Red Bull Content Pool
“The changes we've made should help us on high-speed sections and, combined with a couple of set-up changes, it can make a difference to the car. It's a constant development, and we're further behind our rivals in terms of the rear wing. But we are trying to stay very close to them.”
The new wing includes the addition of two vertical bulkheads to the main profile. These will have to give greater stability in yaw (rotation of the vehicle around its vertical barycentric axis caused by a maneuver of a moving vehicle) to the car, but also greater lateral stability.
The second function of these bulkheads importantly involves aerodynamics. The addition of these elements indicates the clear desire to separate and regulate the turbulences arriving from the roof and rear window of the car, optimizing the flows on the rear part of the vehicle.
This news comes just after an encouraging start to the season for the Cumbria-based team thanks to the double podium achieved by Adrien Fourmaux and Alexandre Coria between the Swedish Rally and the Safari Rally. These results have led them to climb to third place in the World Drivers' standings with 46 points against 67 for world championship leader Thierry Neuville and 61 for Elfyn Evans, second in the standings.
#WRC #MSport #rear #wing #debut #Croatia
