Can M-Sport return to form as the WRC heads to Spain?
There was even murmurings it could run the pair close in the race for the drivers’ and manufacturers’ titles with Craig Breen joining the squad and 9-time champion Sebastien Loeb agreeing terms to do events as and when his diary permitted him.
The British squad was, after all, quickest off the mark to develop and build its hybrid-powered Rally1 car. It was also the first to fire it up and complete initial system checks close to its Cockermouth headquarters before heading onto Tarmac and gravel.
It appeared to have a clear advantage over Hyundai, who wasted months dithering at board level as to whether it would commit its future to the Championship for 2022 and beyond, and Toyota who – by its usual standards – appeared slow to pick up and run with a new set of regulations.
That head start resulted in victory at the Monte Carlo Rally – albeit helped in no small part by a late puncture to Sebastien Ogier’s GR Yaris car – with first and third suggesting big things lay ahead for the Puma.
But no sooner had M-Sport Ford built up a head of steam that it had left them again. Despite leading events and setting quickest stage times, their next visit to the podium was a whole five months later when Breen equalled his best-ever WRC result with second place.
Since then, Breen and Gus Greensmith have endured forgettable runs, and young Frenchman Adrien Fourmaux has been forced to miss consecutive events in Greece and New Zealand respectively. He is back for Spain, though – something he is naturally “really pleased” about.
However, Richard Millener does not believe all is lost and is pinning his hopes on a late return to form, starting on this week’s Rally Spain which gets underway on Thursday morning with the traditional shakedown.
“Rally Spain is an iconic World Rally Championship event that has been a fixture on the calendar for quite a while, and so our crews – and the team – have a lot of experience here,” said the Englishman.
“We had a very good pre-event test with all of our entered crews. That’s giving us a lot of confidence heading to Spain. The test team were able find a nice setup for the car, the crews are extremely happy.
“As we near the end of the season, the focus is on securing good results with the Puma as we aim to end the year on a high,” he added.
The sense of needing to rise to the occasion is being increased by the news Paul Nagle will bow out of top flight competition come Sunday evening, irrespective of the result. For Japan onwards, his seat alongside Craig Breen in the lead Puma Rally1 car will be occupied by fellow Irishman, James Fulton.
“It’s Paul Nagle’s final WRC event as well, so we’re going to do everything we can to make sure he goes out on a high and thank him for all of the hard work him and Craig have put in since joining the team,” said Millener.
