Francois Duval will start the Rallye Monte Carlo knowing that it is absolutely vital he gets a good result if he is to get additional outings with the
Stobart Ford squad this year.
Duval's participation at the Principality is very much a one-off at this stage and the Belgian admitted last month that he will need to do well if the collaboration is to continue.
Speaking ahead of the event, he added though that it will be nice to be back with Ford, having competed with the 'works' team back in 2003 and 2004.
Furthermore having impressed with Kronos
Citroen last season - when he took in the events in Germany, Spain and France, almost winning on the Rallye Deutschland - he will want to again make his mark.
"I am happy to be back in a world rally car on a WRC event as this will be my first event since Corsica last year. It is also good to be back in a Ford Focus WRC which, in the past, has brought me some good results," he stated.
"The last time I competed on Monte-Carlo was in 2006 where some of the route was similar to this year especially on Sunday so I think this will help a bit."
M-Sport boss, Malcolm Wilson meanwhile will be especially keen for Duval to do well, as the Belgian will be nominated to score manufacturers' points for the Stobart squad, along with regular driver,
Gigi Galli.
Henning Solberg and Malcolm's son,
Matthew Wilson will also compete for the Ford 'B' team at the Principality - but they won't be able to score team points.
"It's really exciting to see the Stobart team with such a strong line-up for their first event with both Gigi and Francois nominated for points," he added. "The team is further strengthened by Henning and Matthew who both put in strong performances on their last tarmac event in Ireland. This will be the first time the team competes with its striking new livery too and it is also the first occasion where three Stobart liveried cars have competed on a round of the World Championship."
