M-Sport Ford has shocked many to start the 2024 season, but what could we expect from the team in the next three events?
Fast Gravel
The midpoint of the 2024 World Rally Championship will see the drivers contest some classic stages in Poland at the end of the month, a new event in Rally Latvia and the legendary Rally Finland in July and August respectively. Adrien Fourmaux has taken two podiums already this season, could we see more from the Frenchman at these events? Personally, I wouldn’t be shocked if we do. Fourmaux has yet to take a top-five finish at any gravel event in the sports top class. However, all season long he’s been proving he’s a changed driver. His best finish at a fast gravel event came in Estonia 2022 and Finland 2021 where he finished 7th.
Overcoming The Odds
It has been years since M-Sport has had a top-three finish at a fast event. However, last season that probably would’ve changed if Ott Tänak’s oil pan hadn’t broken. Which forced the Estonian to retire and robbed the fans of the epic battle between Tänak and Kalle Rovanperä on the fast Finnish stages, anyway, back to Fourmaux. Overall I wouldn’t expect a straight-up podium from Fourmaux, but I would be shocked if he was competing for somewhere between 4th and 6th throughout the weekend and happened to slide into a podium battle when another driver retires. Obviously, you never hope a driver retires but we are talking about fast gravel events which almost always catch at least one driver out. Where do I think this is most likely to happen? Finland. In Finland anything can happen, look at last year the machine that is Kalle Rovanperä made an extremely rare mistake. Which ultimately cost him what would’ve surely been a win at his home event.
To Learn
Up to this point I have only talked about Fourmaux and have yet to mention Grégoire Munster, but why? Simply put I don’t expect much from Munster. As, much like every other event, he will be looking to learn throughout every event. Add that to his overall pace just being slower than everyone else and he’s surely not going to finish high. Which is an alright thing for a young driver trying to learn the ropes of a Rally1 beast.