M-Sport Ford Pumas Prepared to take on Tarmac Across Three Nations

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s crews take it back to Tarmac for the penultimate round of the FIA World Rally Championship at next week’s Central European Rally. Adrien Fourmaux and Grégoire Munster return to their pair of Ford Puma Rally1s on the twelfth round of the 2024 season, which offers a variety of asphalt conditions in Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic. 

With the second edition of Central European Rally after its debut in 2023, M-Sport prepares to once again traverse the borders of three countries in this spectacular rally challenge, covering a total distance of over 1,500 kilometres.

The action kicks off once again at Prague Castle with Thursday’s ceremonial start, crews then taking on two stages later that afternoon before the remote parc fermé near Klatovy, in the Czech Republic.

Another full day of remote servicing will take place on Friday, based mostly in the Czech Republic before the crews and teams make their way back to the rally’s main base in Bad Griesbach, Germany. Completing just under 600 kilometres on Friday alone, crews will need to balance speed and endurance to ensure the cars return to Germany on Friday night where the team mechanics can undertake their first proper work of the event.

Adrien Fourmaux and Alex Coria are looking forward to the opportunity of adding a podium on asphalt to their growing collection of silverware from this season. The French pair made a strong impact on the event last year in a Fiesta Rally2, claiming a clean sweep of stage wins on the second leg with six consecutive fastest times, which would also propel them to the overall RC2 category win.

After another strong performance on his debut in Chile, claiming fifth overall amongst more experienced crews, Fourmaux heads to Central Europe bolstered by recent success and is keen to round off the season with more positive finishes.

Grégoire Munster and Louis Louka also return to Central Europe, after completing their second-ever event in Rally1 machinery here last year. With another year of learning under their belts, and a full set of notes to support them, the Luxembourger-Belgian duo will hope for a positive result on their preferred asphalt surface.

Joining the team again in Central Europe, Jourdan Serderidis and Frédéric Miclotte will return to the Ford Puma Rally1 for their third WRC event this season. Very experienced on Belgian Tarmac, the Greek driver will enjoy using his expertise on the tricky and varied surfaces across the three nations next week.

Also returning for their final foray in the WRC2 category this season is William Creighton and Liam Regan. The Motorsport Ireland-backed pairing will round off a strong season of development in the Ford Fiesta Rally2. Benefitting from recent Tarmac seat-time in the British Rally Championship, Creighton and Regan will look to successfully navigate the challenge next week in Central Europe.

Richard Millener, Team Principal, said:
“This event is quite a special challenge compared to everything else so far this year. A remote shakedown, with no chance to visit the service park after this or before the start of the first stage, and then a full day on Friday, again with no proper service. This challenge mixed with the (very likely) difficult muddy conditions will make it a huge challenge for all the crews.

“I am confident though, that with the continuation of a sensible approach to this kind of event from our drivers, we have a good opportunity to get a top result. Our road position may not be the best for muddy Tarmac, but I know the Puma performs very well in these conditions, and the test we had last week was also very productive, so I am looking forward to seeing what is possible!”

Adrien Fourmaux said:
“Central European Rally takes us back to Tarmac rallying for the first time in nearly six months! It’s nice to be driving on Tarmac again, and we had a good day’s testing last week. We know at this time of year the weather can be very wet and make the rally very complicated, with a lot of mud getting brought up from the cuts on the road.

“Last year Alex and I finished first in the RC2 class, which was a really good result. We want to do our best this year on this event to get back on the podium, so we’re going to do our best. We’re really pleased to be back in Europe but also back on Tarmac!”

Grégoire Munster said:
“Central Europe was the first Tarmac event I did in a Rally1 car, and the roads and weather conditions in this part of Europe suit me very well. So I’m looking forward to this event! We had a really good pre-event test last week near the border of the Czech Republic and Austria, and it went very well in tricky conditions – so we are well prepared for the event!

“I like that we cross three countries during this event, it makes the roads very diverse and this way we can see so many fans from different areas of Europe, which is really nice.”

Jourdan Serderidis said:
“After a good result on Acropolis rally, I wanted to conclude the 2024 season with M-Sport and my teammates Adrien, Alex, Greg and Louis with a super nice challenge, and this Tarmac event in Central Europe definitely represents that! I hope to achieve a similar result to our Acropolis finish and have as much fun as we did there.”

William Creighton said:
“This is a completely new rally for me, with 90% new stages for everyone else this year too. It looked like such a tricky rally last year and I am sure it will be similar this time, even if the weather is good. The Fiesta Rally2 will work well in these conditions, we’ve had some recent experience on Tarmac in the car, and I will be aiming for a strong rally to finish our WRC2 season with M-Sport on a high.”