The mountainous Mediterranean island of Corsica, France, hosts round two of the 2019 FIA Junior WRC Championship from March 28 - 31.

The all-asphalt Tour de Corse presents another challenge for the WRC’s next generation of superstars, one that contrasts greatly to the season-opening snow and ice of Rally Sweden.

The Junior WRC Rally Sweden podium was made up entirely of championship rookies with Roland Poom and Jan Solans in second and third respectively. On home territory, Tom Kristensson opened his Junior WRC Championship with a calculated and measured victory. The result was only hint of the drama and excitement surrounding the start of the 2019 Junior WRC Championship.

Drivers who felt comfortable on snow and ice had a significant advantage in Rally Sweden, but Corsica promises the opposite, with those more accustomed to tarmac at a significant advantage.

Testing crews to the limit

Known as ‘The rally of 10,000 corners’, the Tour de Corse presents each Junior WRC crew an intense physical and mental challenge that can see crews tested to and beyond their limits. It is the perfect rally for crews to push and develop themselves in their bid for WRC stardom.

Due to the high number of twists and turns, a meticulously-prepared set of pace-notes are key to emerging victorious on Tour de Corse. The soft and forgiving snow banks of Sweden have been swapped for merciless rock faces, deep ditches and treacherous drops. Even the slightest mistake on this island rally could spell disaster for a crew’s rally and even their championship hopes.

Corsican complications

Other complex elements for crews to deal with are tyres and weather. Crews could only use one type of Pirelli tyre in Sweden, the Sottozero Ice, whereas in Corsica they will have three types of rubber available; Hard (P Zero RK5), Soft (P Zero RKW 7) and Rain (Cinturato RW).

Crews receive a base setup from M-Sport which they will be free to finetune to find the sweet spot in the suspension settings.

Surviving day one is a further complexity crews will need to bear in mind, with no service until the conclusion of the first full day of rallying. Any mistakes that lead to damage, particularly early on, could prove costly, with only basic tools and one mechanic during the mid-day tyre fitting zone.

FIA Junior WRC Championship Manager, Maciej Woda, said:

“The Tour de Corse is a very unique rally and every aspect of it is a challenge for the crews and the team. The relationship between the driver and co-driver is really put to the test here and it can be very rewarding for the crews that are well-prepared. It is the only tarmac rally for Junior WRC in 2019, with very different conditions to Rally Sweden, meaning the crews will have a different learning curve with the all-new EcoBoost-powered Fiesta R2 car. From a competition perspective I am very excited for this rally, as there are a lot of talented drivers with a very strong chance of winning this rally.”

What the drivers said:

71 Tom Kristensson / Henrik Appelskog

“Corsica has been at the centre of my attention and preparations since winning Rally Sweden. I have followed this rally for a while and think it is a great event! I am really looking forward to the rally and gaining meaningful experience in the new Fiesta R2 car. Our target is the same as usual: get experience, finish every stage and have fun along the way.”

72 Roland Poom / Ken Järveoja

“We've had a really positive start to the season scoring my first podium on my first Junior WRC event. Rally Corsica will be quite a challenge for me as it will be my first time there and also my first ever tarmac rally. We had a good test before the event, despite my little tarmac experience, I feel quite confident on the surface. We start the rally as we started in Sweden, looking to find a good rhythm and feeling. Our main target is to get to the finish and enjoy it as much as possible.”

73 Jan Solans / Mauro Barreiro

“We were lucky to achieve such a good result in Sweden, considering that it was not a favourable rally for us. Tour de Corse is our most desirable rally as this type of road is very similar to what I have experience with. I think it's our chance to show our pace, so we'll try to do our best. I will have also tested the car with one of my championship competitors, Fabrizio Zaldivar, after sharing a test day together.”

74 Dennis Rådström / Johan Johansson

“We had a very positive Rally Sweden; it was a lot of fun, we had good pace and a very enjoyable car to drive. It will be the third time for us in Corsica and we’re really looking forward to this challenge; I love the roads and nature on this island. We have good testing experience for this event and have done well in previous years, so we will be well-prepared and aiming for the top spot.”

75 Tom Williams / Phil Hall

“In Corsica we’ll be trying to maintain a good rhythm. I’ve been working extremely hard on my fitness and on my pace notes with Phil which will be crucial because there are so many corners. Our aim is to run towards the top end of the field, I’d obviously love to win, but realistically I’d be happy with another top five finish.”

76 Martins Sesks / Krisjanis Caune

“After quite a disappointing Rally Sweden, we are back in Corsica with renewed energy and enthusiasm. I really enjoyed working with M-Sport in Sweden and can’t wait to carry on working with the team in Corsica. We had a successful tarmac test ahead of Tour de Corse and we are now 100% ready for the challenge!

77 Sean Johnston / Alex Kihurani

“We were quite surprised with fifth on Rally Sweden as the aim was to finish the rally and build upon my experience. Alex and I got to know each other by spectating Rally Corsica together in 2018 and we're excited; tarmac is the surface on which I have the most experience. The expectation is to get to the end of the rally although we certainly hope to be more competitive here. I'm also really excited to get in the new Ford Fiesta R2T on tarmac, I imagine it'll be incredibly quick!”

78 Enrico Oldrati / Elia de Guio

“This year we started a bit better than last year as I crashed on Rally Sweden in 2018 and now we are heading to Rally Corsica. Unfortunately I couldn’t test for this rally due to school commitments, but I have worked a lot to improve my pace notes. For Corsica my goal is to improve on last year, I know there are more experienced drivers than me but I’ll do my best.”

79 Ken Torn / Kauri Pannas

“Our season didn’t start the way we wanted to in Sweden so we have been looking forward to Corsica, it is my second time on this rally and I can’t wait. The new car felt very good in Sweden and I think it will feel the same on tarmac, I cannot wait to get back in the car.”

80 Fabrizio Zaldivar / Fernando Mussano

“I had a good Rally Sweden, considering it was my first time there. It was a great first experience on snow and now I am looking forward to the Tour de Corse and my first time rallying on asphalt. I am really motivated to get as many kilometres as possible, avoiding mistakes and learning for next season.”

81 Julius Tannert / Jürgen Heigl

“This will be my third time on Corsica and I'm really looking forward to it. After an unlucky start in Sweden, we need to really focus from now on and we are aiming for the podium. I can't wait to start with the new Ford Fiesta R2T on tarmac, I think it will be really competitive. My co-driver from 2018, Jürgen Heigl, will be back in the car and together we are extremely motivated for a strong finish.”

82 Nico Knacker / Michael Wenzel

"Rally Sweden wasn’t the best for us, but now we are going to compete on asphalt; a surface where I am most comfortable. I’ve never been to Corsica but I’m really looking forward to this famous event. It’s also the first asphalt rally with the new Ford Fiesta R2T and I’m excited to see what it’s like on asphalt."

83 Raul Badiu / Gabriel Lazar

“After a disappointing start in Sweden, I will approach Corsica with a different target: stay away from trouble and finish the rally. In preparation for the rally, I attended the Vittorio Caneva Rally School where I changed my tarmac setup and my first encounter with the Fiesta R2T on tarmac will be at shakedown.”

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s Elfyn Evans and Teemu Suninen will make a return to Tarmac when the FIA World Rally Championship ventures to next week’s Corsica Linea - Tour de Corse.

Having already proven the pace of their EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta WRC on snow and gravel, the duo will be looking to do the same on asphalt – challenging for the top results at the legendary Rally of 10,000 Corners.

Both top-specification Fiestas will be fitted with the latest aerodynamic updates and the team conducted a comprehensive two-day test on the island earlier this week – targeting various set-up configurations for optimum performance.

The event also marks the debut outing for the team’s all-new Ford F-Max trucks. The F-Max is this year’s International Truck of the Year and is a truly international Ford product – starting life in the Dunton design studio before being built and distributed by Ford Otosan in Turkey.

The two F-Max trucks will accompany the team throughout the remainder of the European season – keeping M-Sport Ford on track whilst being proudly displayed in the service parks of Europe.

Team Principal, Richard Millener, said:

“Having already proven our pace on snow and gravel, I’m confident that we can do the same on asphalt. The Fiesta has always had a good chassis for sealed-surface rallying, and the team have been working extremely hard to fine-tune the set-up and ensure we’re as ready as we can be.

“The vast majority of the route is new this year which provides something of a level playing field, and there’ll also be a real element of endurance on Friday when we complete the whole day without service. The crews are going to have to be especially focused and a clever drive could well bring home the points.

“Elfyn loves this event and he’s done well here in the past. It’s where he first led a round of the championship and I see no reason why he can’t repeat the podium he secured last time out in Mexico. The competition will be fierce, but we’ve got as good a chance as anyone!

“Teemu started his career on asphalt but this is the only event he’s not yet tackled with a world rally car. I think we’ll see some good speed from him again this weekend, but he won’t have a fantastic road position and his goal is to finish all of the stages for maximum experience.”

TOUR DE CORSE:10,000 CORNERS

Known as the Rally of 10,000 Corners, the Tour de Corse is one of the most iconic events on the FIA World Rally Championship calendar. Not only is the island event the first pure asphalt rally of the year, but it’s also a tough test of endurance, focus and skill with narrow roads than wind their way through the mountains.

This year’s route has been heavily revised once again with more than two-thirds of the stage distance differing from last year. The event gets underway in the southern town of Porto-Vecchio and the onus will be on endurance with no service before the return to the Bastia-based service park that evening.

Saturday’s action accounts for more than half the rally’s competitive distance, and the final day incorporates two tests in the Balagne region before a ceremonial finish in the north-western town of Calvi.

The asphalt may not be as abrasive as it once was, but there remains plenty to catch out the unwary. Pacenotes must be made and delivered with pin-point accuracy as the narrow roads leave little room for error. And this rally can just as easily be won and lost on the pre-event reconnaissance as it can on the stages themselves!

ELFYN EVANS AND SCOTT MARTIN

Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin will be looking to follow their Rally Mexico podium with a similar result at next week’s Tour de Corse. The Welshman has historically gone well at the Corsican fixture. It’s where he first led a round of the FIA World Rally Championship and he’ll be aiming to secure another strong result at the event next week.

Previous starts: 4

Best result: 2nd (2015)

Elfyn Evans said:

“I’m looking forward to the first proper Tarmac event of the season, but this year’s Tour de Corse will be a real challenge with about two-thirds of the route made up of completely new stages. The recce is going to be really important and there’s going to be a lot of work needed on the pacenotes.

“This is a demanding rally but the stages themselves are really nice to drive. It was great to get a podium last time out in Mexico, and that really propelled us up the championship standings. It gives us a top-five starting position next week, and we need to capitalise on that and aim for another strong result.

“We spent two days testing together with Teemu and the car feels really good. Everything went to plan and I feel as though we should have some good pace. We’re all looking for another podium and will work as hard as we can to achieve it.”

TEEMU SUNINEN AND MARKO SALMINEN

Teemu Suninen may have started his career on asphalt, but the Tour de Corse remains the only event that he has not yet contested with the power and performance of a world rally car. The young Finn has contested the event on three previous occasions as part of the WRC 2 category, and he and co-driver Marko Salminen will have their eyes on a clean and tidy drive next week.

Previous starts: 3

Best result: 8th (2017)

Teemu Suninen said:

“I’m really looking forward to the first pure asphalt event of the year. I started my career on this surface – but driving a go-kart is quite different to mastering a world rally car!

“In preparation, Elfyn and I split a couple of days testing and the car felt really good. On a rally like the Tour de Corse it’s really important to find a good balance with the car and I think we managed that.

“I didn’t compete here last year and the route is said to be quite different this year. From what I understand, the stages are slightly faster and a bit closer to the type we see in Catalunya.

“It will be interesting to see, but for us the most important thing is to finish the rally with a clean bill of health. If we can do that it will make the next part of the season mentally so much easier.”

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s Lukasz Pieniazek and Kamil Heller are primed for their first asphalt outing with the EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta R5. Contesting next week’s Tour de Corse, the Polish pairing will tackle their third surface in as many events as part of the FIA World Rally Championship’s premier support series, WRC 2 Pro.

Lukasz Pieniazek said:

“The Tour de Corse is a very demanding rally with very twisty and tricky roads. Technically it's one of the most challenging rallies on the calendar, and it’s no wonder why it’s called ‘The Rally of 10 000 Corners’.

“The recce will be very important, especially as 80 percent of the route is completely new this year. The 47 kilometre Castagniccia stage on Saturday will be quite a challenge and it will be important to keep maximum focus from start to finish.

“This will be our first asphalt rally with the Fiesta, but it traditionally handles very well on this type of surface and – even if we are yet to try the car in asphalt trim – I’m really looking forward to the weekend. We’ll have a pre-event test on Sunday, and then focus on doing the best we can during the rally.”

Lukasz Pieniazek (1st WRC 2 Pro) said:

“We were the only WRC 2 Pro crew this weekend so the win isn’t quite what it seems as I made a mistake on Friday afternoon. The stages were very difficult and we struggled to understand the grip levels which were changing all the time. It wasn’t an easy rally, but this is the time to learn and improve and for sure the knowledge and information that we gained this weekend means that we will be stronger in the future. Overall it was an amazing experience and the atmosphere was incredible. I am happy to be here at the finish, and I’m looking forward to our next event which will take place on Tarmac.”

Alberto Heller (3rd WRC 2) said:

“It has been a very difficult rally for us. Yesterday I made a small mistake, but today was much better and I am really happy with that. We got some good kilometres under our belts and tried to gain as much experience as possible. Overall, I think we did a very good job with my co-driver and all of the team.”

FURTHER INFORMATION

Pedro Heller (WRC 2):

Pedro Heller went off the road on SS20 and was forced to retire his Ford Fiesta R5.

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin secured a podium finish at this weekend’s Rally Mexico – bringing their EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta WRC home in third place.

The result marks the eighth podium of Evans’ career, and his first alongside Martin. It’s also the 29th top-three finish for the top-specification Fiesta which continues to prove its performance on every surface.

Rally Mexico is considered one of the toughest events in the FIA World Rally Championship, and Evans took that in his stride – not making a single mistake and delivering impressive pace and consistency throughout the weekend.

Regularly posting top times, the Welshman held second position for much of the event before being caught out by the loose conditions on the second pass of Otates (SS14) – putting him in a fierce battle with championship leader Ott Tänak going into today’s closing stages.

Despite having to settle for the final step of the podium, Evans and Martin should be proud of their performance and will aim to keep the momentum going when the championship returns to Europe and asphalt at the legendary Tour de Corse.

Team Principal, Richard Millener, said:

“We knew that we had a good chance this weekend, and Elfyn and Scott have delivered a really strong performance. They were one of very few crews not to make a single mistake and have shown the pace of the Fiesta on gravel – proving that we are going in the right direction with our continued development program.

“It was a shame to have lost so much time on one stage yesterday, as that second place was ours for the taking, but that is just the way it goes sometimes and we can still be very proud of what we’ve achieved. This podium was the result of a really strong team effort with the mechanics keeping the guys in the rally on Saturday afternoon. I am sure that we will see some more weekends like this throughout the year – and that is certainly our goal.”

Elfyn Evans (3rd) said:

“It’s a good result, but I can’t help but feel a little disappointed because second place should have been on the cards this weekend. Unfortunately there were just a couple of things that cost us quite a lot. That second pass of Otates cost us pretty dearly, and then we made the wrong call on the tyres this morning.

“That said, it was still a good weekend and there are a lot of positives to take away. We didn’t make a single mistake and we’ve collected some good points that will give us a better road position in Corsica. Most importantly, we can see that we’ve made some good changes to the car and we’ll work hard to build on that throughout the year.”

OVERALL CLASSIFICATION

1. Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia (Citroen C3 WRC) 3:37:08.0

2. Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja (Toyota Yaris WRC) +30.2

3. Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin (Ford Fiesta WRC) +49.9

4. Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +1:27.0

5. Kris Meeke / Sebastian Marshall (Toyota Yaris WRC) +6:06.2

Lukasz Pieniazek (1st WRC 2 Pro) said:

“It was pretty tough after yesterday’s crash, but I was trying to find my confidence and the pace was quite good. The pacenotes weren’t perfect as this is only my first time here, but I don’t think there was too much else that I could improve. We will try to keep going, and keep improving, and the main goal is to make sure we finish the rally tomorrow.”

FURTHER INFORMATION

Alberto Heller (WRC 2):

Alberto Heller had been holding second place in WRC 2 before damaging the steering of his Ford Fiesta R5 through the second pass of Otates (SS14). The M-Sport mechanics will repair his Fiesta this evening and the Chilean will restart tomorrow.

Pedro Heller (WRC 2):

Pedro Heller damaged the cooling package of his Ford Fiesta R5 after a heavy landing over a jump on SS16. The M-Sport mechanics will repair his Fiesta this evening and the Chilean will restart tomorrow.

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin are locked in an intense battle for the final podium positions at this weekend’s Rally Mexico – the British pairing currently holding second place with a 2.2 second advantage over former team mate Ott Tänak.

Proving the performance of the EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta WRC, Evans has shown speed and consistency throughout the weekend. Regularly posting top stage times, the Welshman has so far had the measure of this notoriously difficult event – only lucking out through the second pass of Otates (SS14) where the grip levels were particularly low.

Geared up for the fight with just over 60 competitive kilometres left to contest, he and Martin are on course to bring home some silverware and are determined to deliver the best possible result.

But the day wasn’t without its dramas and the M-Sport technicians showed their class when discovering some damage to the rear cross member during midday service. With 14 minutes on the clock, they successfully changed it as well as the rear differential – a task which would have taken 25 minutes under normal circumstances!

Rightly applauded by the onlooking crowd, their efforts perfectly demonstrate the teamwork that is such a big part of this sport – a potential podium the result of exceptional work by the whole team: driver, co-driver, engineers and technicians alike.

Team Principal, Richard Millener, said:

“It’s been another good day for Elfyn and Scott who have continued to show some impressive pace out there. Locked in a pretty intense battle with Ott, they really showed their ability and had the jump on him throughout most of the day – so it’s a shame that they lost so much through the second pass of Otates [SS14]. But that’s just the way it goes sometimes, and we’ll focus on being faster than him again tomorrow!

“I also need to praise the efforts of the engineers and mechanics this afternoon. With just 14 minutes left on the clock, they noticed some damage to the rear cross member and set about changing that as well as the rear differential. It’s a job that usually takes about 25 minutes and I have to say that it was pretty impressive watching – getting a well-deserved applause from the crowd when Elfyn pulled out of service on time. Without them, we simply wouldn’t be fighting for a podium tomorrow.”

Elfyn Evans (2nd) said:

“It was a pretty good morning for us and a good start to the afternoon, but I was disappointed to have given so much away to Ott [Tänak] on the second pass of Otates [SS14]. I was pushing quite hard, but I just couldn’t get comfortable and didn’t have the feeling to go much faster.

“The gap isn’t particularly big right now and there’ll be a big fight tomorrow, but if we have a good run I’m confident that we can get the job done. You still have to drive quite smart to be fast here, but at the end of the day we want that second place and we’re going to fight for it.”

OVERALL CLASSIFICATION

1. Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia (Citroen C3 WRC) 2:57:21.4

2. Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin (Ford Fiesta WRC) +27.0

3. Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja (Toyota Yaris WRC) +29.2

4. Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +1:15.7

5. Kris Meeke / Sebastian Marshall (Toyota Yaris WRC) +4:37.1

Alberto Heller (3rd WRC 2 / RC2) said:

Despite a late scare with a clutch problem on the final road section of the day, Alberto Heller’s Ford Fiesta R5 holds third place in WRC 2.

“We are in third place and I was really happy with the afternoon stages. In Ortega [SS6] we made a really good time. And it was also not so bad in El Chocolate second time around [SS5]. On the road section back to service we had a problem with the clutch and it was really difficult. I wasn’t sure if we would make it back, but we did.”

Lukasz Pieniazek (1st WRC 2 Pro / 6th RC2):

Lukasz Pieniazek had been running third in class before hitting a rock on SS6 which caused damaged to the front-left suspension of his Ford Fiesta R5.

“It’s not been the best day for us. We were struggling a bit with the high temperatures and the stages were very slippery. On SS6 I was too fast into a corner and hit a rock. We damaged the suspension and had to retire. For sure we will be back tomorrow and I’ll focus on getting more knowledge of the stages and more experience here in Mexico.”

Pedro Heller (4th WRC 2 / 7th RC2):

Pedro Heller damaged the front-left driveshaft and broke the steering arm of his Ford Fiesta R5 on SS5. Making a temporary fix to the steering arm, the Chilean’s perseverance saw him complete the day.

“I’m happy to be here at the end of the day! In El Chocolate [SS5] we had a spin and hit the front-left wheel with open steering which damaged the driveshaft and the steering arm. We had to stop and find signal to call the engineers. Speaking with the team we were able to fix the steering, but we were left with a rear-wheel drive car to finish the day.”

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin are battling for the top positions at this weekend’s Rally Mexico – their EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta WRC currently holding second place on the third round of the FIA World Rally Championship.

Delivering impressive pace and consistency, the British pairing are just 14.8 seconds adrift off the lead with two more days of arduous competition left to contest.

There was less good news for Teemu Suninen and Marko Salminen who retired on the first stage of the morning (S22). Hitting a stone on the inside of a corner, their Fiesta spun into the rock face at high speed. The heavy impact caused too much damage to attempt a repair, and the Finns will not continue this weekend.

Team Principal, Richard Millener, said:

“It’s great to see Elfyn up there battling for the top positions. He and Scott are delivering a really strong drive with the pace and consistency that this event demands. They’re in a comfortable rhythm at the moment, and it’s still all to play for.

“But things didn’t go quite as well for Teemu whose rally came to an end pretty early on this morning. Hitting a stone on the inside of a corner, he was spun into the rock face at high speed which caused extensive damage to the front-right chassis leg. The damage was beyond even our technicians and unfortunately meant the end of the weekend for him and Marko.”

Elfyn Evans (2nd) said:

“It’s been a good day out there – with the car and everything inside the car all working really well. It’s not been the sort of day to be on the limit. It’s been about staying clean, staying in the line, and trying to find the grip. It’s been very slippery out there today, but it should be a bit faster with a bit more grip tomorrow.

“There are some really nice stages to come, but also some really demanding ones. It’s a bit of a mix and you have to get it all right so I’m looking forward to the challenge. We’ve got to keep pushing because anything can happen and there is still a long way to go. We’ll keep giving it our all and see what happens.”

Teemu Suninen (DNF) said:

“We were driving cleanly, until we hit a big stone. We lost the front-right and spun into the side of the mountain. There was quite a lot of damage which means that we can’t continue, but the main thing is that both me and Marko are okay.”

OVERALL CLASSIFICATION

1. Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia (Citroen C3 WRC) 1:18:33.8

2. Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin (Ford Fiesta WRC) +14.8

3. Kris Meeke / Sebastian Marshall (Toyota Yaris WRC) +21.1

4. Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja (Toyota Yaris WRC) +37.1

5. Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferme (Citroen C3 WRC) +39.1

6. Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +1:00.7

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s Elfyn Evans and Teemu Suninen will be looking to show the speed of the EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta WRC on gravel when the FIA World Rally Championship ventures to next week’s Rally Mexico.

The first loose-surface event of the year took place at last month’s Rally Sweden and the team proved their potential with five stage wins on snow and ice. Suninen led the rally for the first time in his career, and the team will be looking for more of the same when they swap icy forests for dusty mountains.

A two-day test in the hills north of Barcelona allowed the team to replicate the expected altitude, and the crews to reaffirm the sensation of driving on gravel. The test was supplemented by a further two days at Ford’s state-of-the-art climatic chamber in Dunton – perfecting the engine maps to ensure optimum performance at high altitude and temperatures.

Team Principal, Richard Millener, said:

“This is the first gravel event of the year and I’m excited to see what we can do. I think we made our intentions pretty clear in Sweden – with five stage wins we’re not just here to make up the numbers. We’re here to challenge for the top results, and I think we’ll have a good chance of doing that next week.

“Elfyn and Teemu both have the speed, and they’ll both have a good road position on the first day that we will need to make the most of. We need to work on our consistency, but if we can do that I see no reason why we can’t bring some trophies home to Cumbria.”

RALLY MEXICO: HIGHS OF COMPETITION

Rally Mexico is truly unique with high altitudes and temperatures to test both man and machine. The 30°C heat can be closer to 50°C in the cockpit. The crews must be in peak physical condition, and every technical component must also be able to withstand the punishing temperatures. If that weren’t enough, the stages climb more than 2,700 meters above sea level where the oxygen-starved air can see engine performance reduced by as much as 20 percent.

The drivers must adjust their driving to contend with the reduced power, and the engineers must be sure to extract maximum performance. The gravel stages can also be rough going, especially over the second pass, and the crews must maintain their concentration levels to avoid the pitfalls that make this a true rally of attrition.

Yet despite being one of the most challenging events on the calendar, Rally Mexico is also one of the most vibrant. The Mexican fans have taken rallying to their hearts and their enthusiasm is best captured in the historic town of Guanajuato – the colours, sights and sounds of the opening super special not to be missed.

ELFYN EVANS AND SCOTT MARTIN

Elfyn Evans has twice finished fourth in Mexico, and the Welshman will want to be in the fight for the top positions again this year. He and co-driver Scott Martin proved their speed with three stage wins in Sweden, and they’ll be ones to watch in Mexico.

Previous starts: 4

Best result: 4th (2015 and 2014)

Elfyn Evans said:

“I’ve always enjoyed Rally Mexico and have had some good results here in the past. I’ve come close to the podium a couple of times, and the aim will be to challenge for the top results again next week. The whole team showed good speed in Sweden, and we want to continue that in Mexico.

“We’ll have a good road position on the first day that we’ll need to make the most of. But this rally isn’t without its challenges. It’s a notoriously demanding event with high temperatures and rough stages. So we’ll need to be fully focused to deliver the best results.

“We’ll also encounter the highest altitudes of the year, and the thinner air can see performance fall by as much as 20 percent. We’ll need to adapt our driving style to contend with that – being really smooth and not so aggressive behind the wheel – to ensure we’re getting 100 percent of the available performance.”

TEEMU SUNINEN AND MARKO SALMINEN

Teemu Suninen may have only contested Rally Mexico on two previous occasions, but he is a previous category winner – securing the WRC 2 victory in 2016. Having led a rally for the first time last month, Suninen and co-driver Marko Salminen are hungry for more and have the potential to impress once again next week.

Previous starts: 2

Best result: 9th (2016)

Teemu Suninen said:

“Rally Mexico and Rally Sweden are two totally different events, but it would be nice to continue our strong performance. We drove a one-day test in Spain last week and, although the temperatures aren’t very close to what we’ll see in Mexico, it was a good opportunity to get a feel for the car at high altitude on gravel.

“The feeling was really good, but there is always a little uncertainty going to the events as we don’t know what our rivals have done. There was that same feeling before Sweden, but our pace was good and we had the speed to challenge for the top results.

“I don’t know if we’ll be able to challenge with the top guys next week, but we’re all working really hard and team have put a lot of effort into the development of the Fiesta. That hard work showed in Sweden, and I hope it will show in Mexico too.

“I’ll have a later start position, but that’s not always a good thing as there could be a lot of stones dragged onto the line. The key for me will be to drive neatly and have the consistency as well as the speed.”

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s Lukasz Pieniazek is ready to tackle the gravel stages of next week’s Rally Mexico. Taking to the wheel of the EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta R5, the young Pole is contesting his first event outside of Europe and is keen to show further improvements on the first gravel event of the year.

Lukasz Pieniazek (WRC 2 Pro) said:

“I’m really looking forward to Rally Mexico which will be my first ever event outside Europe. Due to the high temperatures and potentially really demanding conditions, Kamil [Heller, co-driver] and I have been training really hard, and we're ready for the battle.

“We left Poland on Thursday to give ourselves two days to acclimatise ahead of Monday's pre-event test. I didn’t find a set-up that was perfectly suited to my driving in Sweden, but we have a few ideas of what we can improve next week. We want to continue the work we started in Sweden – to try a few things and get to know our Fiesta better.

“It's a great pity that we'll be the only WRC 2 Pro crew in Mexico, but that doesn't mean we're not going to fight. Our goal is to be the first R5 crew so we won't be cruising and we'll try to go as fast as possible. On the other hand there will surely be less pressure. Either way it's still going to be a long and demanding rally, but the longer the stages the better for me.”

‘Pedro’ and co-driver Emanuele Baldaccini will take to the wheel of an EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta R5 for two seasons in the FIA World Rally Championship’s premier support series, WRC 2.

The two-year signing will see the Italian crew contest five events this season with a further six events in 2020. The pairing will get their campaign underway at next month’s Tour de Corse before further events in Portugal, Germany, Turkey and Spain.

"I have a lot of emotion and satisfaction in being able to give this announcement,” said ‘Pedro.’

“I can say that this is the crowning achievement of a career that has always based its roots in a great passion for rally, but I also see it as a starting point for a new adventure at the highest level of the sport.

“It also shows that even a gentleman driver like me can drive with an official team, and what pleased me most is how I immediately felt like part of the family at M-Sport – first of all comes the human relationship, and then you start to talk about performance.

“They are a team that have no equal. Seeing how they work, how they turn the cars around between events, how they develop them. You immediately understand why M-Sport has such an excellent reputation in the world of motorsport.”

The Italian pairing will run on Pirelli tyres and their first official test will take place next month when ‘Pedro’ returns to England for a private asphalt test. A further gravel test is planned in Greystoke forest before his opening loose-surface round in Portugal.

"I am aware that there will be much for me to learn this season,” concludes ‘Pedro.’

“I will compete with a new car in events that I have never contested before. But I remain calm, because I have one of the best teams in the world to support me and follow my growth. I could not ask for anything else, and I cannot wait to start this fantastic adventure.”

Bentley Motorsport will be doubling its efforts to secure success at this year’s Total 24 Hours of Spa (25-28 July), with four second-generation Continental GT3s competing for places on the podium. Joining the Bentley Motorsport team to pilot the additional cars are a new complement of Bentley Boys, with some exceptional talent drafted from within the wider Bentley racing family of customer teams bolstered by new recruits to the brand. Callum Macleod (GB) and Seb Morris (GB), both of whom have competed in the previous generation Continental GT3 for Team Parker Racing, will be joined by Rodrigo Baptista (BR), who also possesses Bentley GT3 experience behind the wheel for Bentley Team K-PAX Racing in the USA. These three talented Bentley racers will then be joined by newcomers Alex Buncombe (GB), Lucas Ordonez (ES) and Markus Palttala (FI), who will be making their endurance racing debuts for Bentley in the second additional car. Both cars that opened the season at the Bathurst 12 Hour will participate at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Steven Kane (GB), Jordan Pepper (ZA) and Jules Gounon (FR) will compete in Car #107 while the sister #108 car will be driven by experienced Bentley racers Andy Soucek (ES) and Maxime Soulet (BE). Leaving Bentley Motorsport ahead of the start of the Blancpain GT Series season is Vincent Abril (MC), who has decided to explore new opportunities as his career enters its next phase.Commenting on the expanded driver roster, Bentley’s Director of Motorsport, Brian Gush, says:

Hosting both the Blancpain GT Series and the Intercontinental GT Challenge Powered by Pirelli, the 24 Hours of Spa is a key focus for the world’s most sought-after luxury car brand as it celebrates its centenary. In honour of this special anniversary, the Continental GT3s will be numbered #107, #108, #109 and #110 – a symbolic 100 added to their numbers.

Tom Kristensson sent a clear message to the rest of the FIA Junior WRC Championship field, winning on Rally Sweden with a fine drive in his 200 horsepower EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta R2.

The top three is made up entirely of rookies to the Junior WRC championship, with Roland Poom and Jan Solans in second and third respectively.

Kristensson is the third Swede to win the Junior WRC on Rally Sweden confirming his position as a championship contender.

The Swede’s win is the tip of the iceberg when looking at the Junior WRC 2019 Rally Sweden story.

The Junior WRC veteran Dennis Rådström had notched 10 impressive stage wins by the conclusion of stage 12, leading many to believe he was set to repeat his 2018 Rally Sweden victory. He started stage 13 but wouldn’t finish it thanks to a costly error and was forced to retire the car for the day.

Rådström returned to the stages on Sunday morning, grabbing two stage wins from an available three, bringing home a decent points haul thanks to the one point per stage win allocation in Junior WRC.

Kristensson inherited the lead from Rådström’s stage 13 exit and took a calm and measured approach after experiencing a tight and competitive fight in section two. Knowing he had a comfortable 1m44.0s lead over Estonian rookie Roland Poom, Kristensson elected for mistake-free finishes over stage wins to deliver his first Junior WRC win.

Roland Poom had a steady start to Rally Sweden and made great progress on Saturday thanks to increasing confidence and costly errors made by those further up the road. He claimed his best stage result of 2nd on stage 13 compounding Kristensson’s winning philosophy of calm and cautious.

Jan Solans rounded out the top three, taking a stage win along the way after a successful Saturday when he climbed from fifth to third on his debut in the Junior WRC. Although for most of the day he adopted a similar approach to Poom and Kristensson, he was able to find astonishing pace on stage 16, thanks to its sprint style nature, claiming his maiden stage win of the year.

There were many favourites for the 2019 Junior WRC crown starting Rally, all of which having difficulties at some point along the way. 2018 Junior WRC Rally Finland winner Ken Torn was able to demonstrate his raw speed with two stage wins but several big mistakes removed him from podium contention. Junior WRC rookie Martins Sesks delivered times consistently in the top three with three stage wins. He was forced to retire due to a technical issue on Friday, surrendering second place and the chance for Junior WRC victory.

FIA Junior WRC Championship Manager, Maciej Woda, said:

“Following the Junior WRC on Rally Sweden has been unbelievable and great to watch. I don’t think anybody would have predicted our top three going into this rally, especially when you consider that they are all new to the Junior WRC Championship. We have had a very healthy spread of stage winners this weekend which is great for the season ahead and also the championship. Tom should be incredibly proud of his achievement, starting his first Junior WRC event and winning it on home soil is something very special. This rally has been a great test for the all-new Fiesta R2 car which has been majorly impressive from the feedback we have received so far. The car’s exceptional pace and consistency could not have been achieved without the support we have received from Ford and our partners at Pirelli and Wolf Lubricants.”

JUNIOR WRC RALLY SWEDEN OVERALL CLASSIFICATION AND DRIVER QUOTES:

1. Tom Kristensson / Henrik Appelskog 3:14:48.9

“I think we have shown the pace and I am extremely happy about my confidence in myself; I had a plan and I stuck to it. It feels really good and I think it will be a great season. The biggest point for me was not to make any mistakes I think the most important thing was to find the right pace and remain calm. We have enjoyed the rally and of course there were some moments there’s no question about that but in the end it feels great. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season as I feel I’m really progressing with the car”

2. Roland Poom / Ken Jarveoja +1:31.2

“We knew that this rally would be really hard and there wasn’t much point in pushing. I knew I had the speed to achieve a podium but there no point as it was a new rally for me. The other guys decided to push and made mistakes allowing me to achieve my first Junior WRC podium.”

3. Jan Solans / Mauro Barreiro +4:09.2

“It was really good for us to start the season in this way and I’m really happy about it. We were really consistent this weekend which helped us finish third. We are really happy with our performance this weekend; we improved a lot it’s a good result for us here in Sweden.”

4. Tom Williams / Phil Hall +6:53.4

“It’s a really good feeling for the event that I thought was going to be the trickiest this year. This one was just a survival and that’s from my experience last year of making lots of small mistakes and realising that I need the consistency. We made a lot of changes to my pace notes over the winter and made no mistakes on the rally so we’re really happy.”

5. Sean Johnston / Alex Kihurani +11:43.1

“The goal was simply getting to the end of the rally hoping maybe for a top ten result so to finish in fifth is really quite the gift. I don’t feel like we had the pace for this result, we’ve been persevering and other people have been having issues.”

6. Martins Sesks / Krisjanis Caune +13:20.9

“It’s been a crazy weekend out here. We started with a stage win on the first proper day of rallying, then we had a spin. When we got back in the rhythm it was unfortunate, but we had a technical issue so we retired and from there, there was not much that we could do.”

7. Enrico Oldrati / Elia de Guio +16:23.8

“This was a weekend to forget for me, I could not get the right feeling in the car under the conditions but we have finished now so I am happy about that.”

8. Dennis Rådström / Johan Johansson +23:31.1

“We have to take a step and develop, the driving has been really great this week and we’re really happy as we are focussing on the positives.”

9. Fabrizio Zaldivar / Fernando Mussano +23:47.0

“It was quite tricky, on the first day we were learning and to finish the rally which was the main goal. We finished the rally but it was very tricky for me as it was my first time here, the surface was not at its best and then we had technical issues on Saturday leaving us stuck at one point where we lost a lot of time.”

10. Ken Torn / Kuldar Sikk +24:00.0

“We finished in this position and there’s nothing we can do about it now, it’s made us a little bit unhappy and we lost time on the last two stages too. We need to make some progress for Corsica. Top five is ok but we want to win so we are going to keep working.”

11. Julius Tannert / Helmar Hinneberg +41:24.8

“It was a really difficult weekend for us, we have shown some good speed and some good pace. In the end we had a bad Saturday with a technical issue and then we went off and damaged the car. We retired on Saturday and restarted on Sunday but this isn’t the position we wanted to end our weekend in.”

12. Nico Knacker / Tobias Braun +49:09.3

“We learned a lot about the rally and the difficult conditions this weekend. We had contact on the last day with a snow bank which isn’t great. Overall the experience has been fantastic this, we learned a lot and know what to do for next year.”

13. Raul Badiu / Gabriel Lazar +53:38.8

“It is indeed a disappointing start to the championship, but we learned a lot, WRC is not a flat-out rally from the start to the finish. You have to use your brain a lot in these tricky conditions when it is very easy to make mistakes and have numerous punctures like I did. We can’t change time, so we’re already look ahead to the next rally.”

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta WRC showed winning pace at this weekend’s Rally Sweden – claiming five stage wins and challenging for victory on the second round of the FIA World Rally Championship.

With the team’s continued development paying dividends, Teemu Suninen delivered an incredible performance through the opening stages. Leading the field for the first time in his career, the young Finn was consistently quick and went into yesterday’s competition with a slender lead over M-Sport’s former protégé Ott Tänak.

Keeping the Estonian honest, it looked as though Suninen would be locked in an intense battle for victory before he became a victim of the snowbanks. A second dice with the snowbanks then ended with a high-speed impact which brought M-Sport’s world-class technicians to the fore – replacing part of the rollcage in less than three hours to see their latest star back out on the stages.

Elfyn Evans also had the speed to challenge for the top results this weekend, but was left ruing an early spin on Friday morning which cost him close to half a minute. Regrouping with three fastest stage times, the Welshman pushed hard but had to settle for fifth place – albeit just 10 seconds shy of the podium.

Showcasing his speed once again, he also claimed an additional three points for the third-fastest time through the Power Stage.

Local hero Pontus Tidemand also continued to gain the vital knowledge and experience needed to progress at this level but, having suffered some technical issues on Friday morning, was hampered by road position throughout much of the weekend.

Despite the disadvantage, the young Swede showed promising speed with a fourth fastest time on Friday afternoon and regularly outperformed those with a similar road position and considerably more experience.

Team Principal, Richard Millener, said:

“It wasn’t the result we wanted, but it’s definitely been a positive weekend. The whole team has been working extremely hard on the development of this car, and it’s great to see that hard work paying off with stage-winning, and rally-winning, pace here in Sweden.

“We’ve witnessed a real coming-of-age performance from Teemu – leading a WRC rally for the very first time and proving that he has the speed to challenge for the top results. Yes he made some mistakes, but that’s part of the game when you’re learning how to push at this level and I was impressed to see how quickly he got back up to speed.

“Elfyn also had the speed this weekend with three fastest stage times, and he will be kicking himself about that spin on Friday morning! Were it not for that he could have secured quite a comfortable podium, but it was great to see him bounce back after the disappointment in Monte. I don’t think we’ll have to wait too long before he brings home some silverware, and I’m looking forward to seeing how he performs in Mexico.

“It was a shame that Pontus had some technical issues on Friday morning because that hampered his road position over the next two days. But we still saw some strong times from him. He set a fourth fastest time on Friday afternoon and it would be nice to see him back in the car so that he can continue his development.”

Elfyn Evans (5th) said:

“We’ve had very good speed for the most part of this weekend. I would say that we can be happy with 75 percent of the stages we did, but I’m just kicking myself about the other 25 percent which didn’t go quite as well as they should have.

“We had the potential to be on the podium so we are left with a little bit of frustration, but there are still a lot of positives. We’ve made a massive step with the car compared to last year and we already know that we’re competitive on gravel so I’m really looking forward to the upcoming events.”

Pontus Tidemand (8th) said:

“It’s a dream to compete here on my home event with a world rally car. It has been amazing and I want to thank all of the fans and supporters and of course my sponsors as well as the whole M-Sport team and Ola who have done a fantastic job all weekend.

“It was a shame to have had the issues on Friday but these things happen and I have been improving a lot. I’m starting to feel quite comfortable with the aerodynamics and everything and I only wish this event could have been longer!

“I still need some time with this incredible car, and I really hope that we have an opportunity to do some more later in the year.”

Teemu Suninen said:

“We had really good pace this weekend, and that gives me a lot of confidence. But there were a couple of mistakes and that means that we come away from this rally with no points.

“I have to work hard for the next event, but I still think there have been a lot of positives this weekend. I led a rally for the first time, and the car felt really good. A big thanks to the team who have been working really hard, and hopefully we can do better in Mexico.”

OVERALL CLASSIFICATION

1. Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja (Toyota Yaris WRC) 2:47:30.0

2. Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferme (Citroen C3 WRC) +53.7

3. Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +56.7

4. Andreas Mikkelsen / Anders Jaeger (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +1:05.4

5. Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin (Ford Fiesta WRC) +1:08.2

6. Kris Meeke / Sebastian Marshall (Toyota Yaris WRC) +1:38.8

7. Sébastien Loeb / Daniel Elena (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +1:49.7

8. Pontus Tidemand / Ola Fløene (Ford Fiesta WRC) +3:37.7

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s Gus Greensmith and Łukasz Pieniążek had much to learn at this weekend’s Rally Sweden, but both showed good progress and brought their EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta R5s home in third and fourth places respectively in the WRC 2 Pro class.

Gus Greensmith (3rd WRC 2 Pro) said:

“It’s been a tricky weekend and hard to find the confidence. The pace wasn’t where I wanted it to be, so we just had to keep it on the road for both the manufacturer and driver championships. In that sense the result was good and we scored some good points, but we still have a lot to learn and improve on snow.”

Lukasz Pieniazek (4th WRC 2 Pro) said:

“We didn’t have a great start crashing on the first day, but for sure it will be better in the future! For us the rally was about gaining experience of this new car and I think we can be quite happy with what we learnt. There is still some more performance to find, but we will continue to work hard with the team and I’m optimistic that it will come.”

Team Principal, Richard Millener, said:

“We knew it would be a tough weekend for Gus and Lukasz this weekend, but Gus’ resilience paid off and he has been rewarded with another WRC 2 Pro podium. He is a natural competitor and always wants to be faster, but we need to remember that this was only his second ever rally on snow. I think he can be pleased with his progress over the weekend, and he still holds the lead in the championship.

“Lukasz was one of so many to get caught out by the snowbanks on Friday, but he was back on Saturday and keen to learn as much as he could. It’s a completely new challenge for him this year with a new car and a new team. There really is no substitute for competition so it was important to see him back on the stages and I know he’s already looking forward to Mexico.”

Gus Greensmith said:

“I found the going a bit better today, but we’ve had a few technical issues which have set us back a bit. It’s been one of those days so we just need to start again tomorrow and focus on learning as much as we can.”

Lukasz Pieniazek said:

“For sure today was better than yesterday! The second loop was more consistent than the first, but we made a mistake that saw us stuck in the snow for a couple of minutes. We’ll continue to learn the car and hopefully we can push a bit more tomorrow.”

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s Teemu Suninen and Marko Salminen may have missed their chance to fight for a maiden victory at this weekend’s Rally Sweden, but the Finns have certainly proved their speed alongside the performance of the EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta WRC.

Leading an FIA World Rally Championship event for the first time in his career, Suninen was locked in a battle for the win with Ott Tänak. Keeping the Estonian honest, the Finn was on pace before getting off line and dragged into a snowbank through the first pass of Hagfors (SS10).

Despite losing a minute and a half to the lead, Suninen and Salminen regrouped and quickly got back up to speed. Climbing the leaderboard, they were on course to add to their tally of fastest stage times before clipping a tree at high-speed on the second pass of Vargåsen (SS14).

With the impact causing damage to the rollcage, the Finns had to return to service where the cage could be inspected and repaired with the expertise of M-Sport’s world-class technicians. Job done, the Fiesta will be back on the stages tomorrow.

Having piloted their Fiesta to two stage wins yesterday, Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin were hoping for more of the same but struggled to find a comfortable rhythm in the difficult conditions

Despite there being no stage wins for the Welshman today, his efficiency remained and a clean and tidy drive means that he is still less than 15 seconds adrift of the podium with all to play for tomorrow.

Pontus Tidemand also continued to gain experience of the top-specification Fiesta and showed good speed against those with the same road positions – regularly out-performing big names with a lot more experience.

Team Principal, Richard Millener, said:

“Today wasn’t quite as good as yesterday! Obviously it was a shame to lose Teemu from the fight at the front, but we’re still really impressed with his performance. Accidents happen, but his times were incredible. It was good to see how quickly he was able to get back on the pace after the mistakes, and this should give him a lot of confidence for the rallies to come.

“Unfortunately his second mistake proved rather more costly than his first and there was some damage to the rollcage which meant he had to come straight back to service. As we manufacturer our own rollcages we’re allowed to make the repair ourselves – so long as it can be done in three hours and the FIA are happy.

“Our mechanics love a challenge and they’ve excelled themselves with this one. It’s not an easy thing to do, but that’s why they’re the best mechanics in the business – and they’ve deserved a couple of beers tonight!”

Elfyn Evans (5th) said:

“There was more time to be found out there today and although we had some good stages it was disappointing to lose so much time on some of the others. Tomorrow is a new day and we’ll keep fighting and looking forward.”

Pontus Tidemand (8th) said:

“I started to feel very comfortable in the car this afternoon so I am happy for that. But with this road position it was not so easy to get close to the top times. Hopefully if we have some freezing temperatures tonight, tomorrow will be a bit better for us.”

Teemu Suninen said:

“We made some mistakes today but I think this weekend has still been a positive one. Last year we were struggling quite a lot with the pace, but this year we were able to increase the speed and fight for the top positions.

“The pace has been really good all weekend. Of course we shouldn’t have made these mistakes, but there were a lot of mistakes from a lot of drivers in these difficult conditions – and it is better to have the pace and improve the consistency.

“The performance has given me a lot of confidence and I need to push more and prepare even harder for the next rallies. I want to thank the team – not only for repairing the car today – but also because everyone is pushing in the right direction and the car feels really good.”

OVERALL CLASSIFICATION

1. Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja (Toyota Yaris WRC) 2:19:31.7

2. Andreas Mikkelsen / Anders Jaeger (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +54.5

3. Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferme (Citroen C3 WRC) +54.5

4. Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +56.8

5. Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin (Ford Fiesta WRC) +1:08.7

6. Kris Meeke / Sebastian Marshall (Toyota Yaris WRC) +1:36.5

7. Sébastien Loeb / Daniel Elena (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +1:38.1

8. Pontus Tidemand / Ola Fløene (Ford Fiesta WRC) +3:08.0

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s Teemu Suninen and Marko Salminen lead the way at Rally Sweden – the young Finn claiming two stage wins on his way to leading an FIA World Rally Championship event for the first time in his career.

But if Suninen was showing his class, so was his EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta WRC. Securing more stage wins than any other manufacturer so far this weekend, the Fiesta set the fastest time on four of today’s seven speed tests.

Two of those fastest times belonged to Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin whose performance had them ruing an earlier mistake when a high-speed spin cost them close to half a minute on the first stage of the day (SS2).

Regrouping with impressive pace, the Welshman climbed from 11th to fourth and remains just 10.8 seconds adrift of the podium positions.

Pontus Tidemand endured a difficult morning but regrouped with promising pace. The Swede suffered an issue with a throttle pedal sensor, but was quick on the pace this afternoon – setting the fourth fastest time through the second pass of Hof-Finnskog (SS5).

Team Principal, Richard Millener, said:

“We said we would bounce back after Monte and that is exactly what we have done. Teemu has been sensational today and it’s been a real coming of age performance. His speed was impressive, but he’s also looked really comfortable behind the wheel and kept his cool to maintain his lead at the end of the day.

“Elfyn has also shown great speed with a couple of stage wins. It’s a shame he lost time this morning otherwise he would have been right there with Teemu! Pontus can also be happy with his day. He had some technical issues this morning, but bounced back with some promising times this afternoon.

“I think a few people may have discounted us even before this rally got underway, but we knew we had the car and the drivers to deliver a strong result. We’ve not stopped developing this car and we’ve not stopped believing in the potential of our young team.

“There’s still a long way to go and we know that the guys behind will be pushing hard, but we have every chance of delivering a really strong result this weekend.”

Teemu Suninen (1st) said:

“To be leading my first rally is an amazing feeling. We didn’t make any big mistakes and had really good pace all day so we can be happy with that. It was just a shame that we made a small mistake with the lights on the last stage [SS8] – otherwise our lead could have been 10 seconds more than it is now!

“The car feels really good and I have really enjoyed the driving. We had a really good test in the lead-up to this event and the whole team was pushing the car to be better.

“Of course everyone’s target is to be the fastest, but we need to remember that there are still two days to go with some very difficult conditions. We need to keep going and concentrate on the driving. For sure Ott will be fast tomorrow, but we are in front of him and we will try our best.”

Elfyn Evans (4th) said:

“We didn’t have the best of starts and it was a shame about the spin on the first stage of the morning [SS2]. By the third stage [of the day, SS4] we had started to get into it and it went pretty well from there with two stage wins. The afternoon was really good and we moved up to fourth, so let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”

Pontus Tidemand (9th) said:

“We had some problems this morning but the car was working well this afternoon and I am quite happy with my driving. The speed of the guys at the front is really quick and I know that I still have a lot to learn. This evening we will try to look at what we have been doing well and what we can do better. We’ll keep going tomorrow and try to find some more.”

OVERALL CLASSIFICATION

1. Teemu Suninen / Marko Salminen (Ford Fiesta WRC) 1:11:05.3

2. Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja (Toyota Yaris WRC) +2.0

3. Andreas Mikkelsen / Anders Jaeger (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +17.8

4. Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin (Ford Fiesta WRC) +28.6

5. Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferme (Citroen C3 WRC) +42.0

6. Sébastien Loeb / Daniel Elena (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +48.8

7. Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +52.7

8. Kris Meeke / Sebastian Marshall (Toyota Yaris WRC) +53.1

9. Pontus Tidemand / Ola Fløene (Ford Fiesta WRC) +1:24.4

Gus Greensmith said:

“It’s been a tough day to be honest. This morning wasn’t good, but it wasn’t terrible. In the sections where we had high-speed corners we were bang on the pace. But where we had medium-to-slow speed corners I just didn’t feel that I had the grip and we lost time.

“When the conditions worsened this afternoon I took two spares but that upset the balance of the car and I was struggling quite a lot with the rear. Then under braking, we must have clipped some slush and unfortunately got stuck on top of the snow!

“We lost about two minutes there and fell down to third in WRC 2 Pro and 13th in class. To be fair it doesn’t look too bad in WRC 2 Pro, but I want the pace to be better so we need to keep working.”

Lukasz Pieniazek said:

“Everything was going quite well. We felt comfortable with the car and weren’t pushing too much, but then we lost the line in a narrow, high-speed section of the forest.

“It was my mistake. I went too hard on the brakes and we hit the snowbank. With the high-speed, we spun and couldn’t save the situation – hitting a tree which made it impossible to continue.

“Tomorrow we need to get back out there for the experience. There is nothing more to lose so I will give it a good push when I feel comfortable and keep trying to improve.”

Orange1 Racing and M-Sport have created a new partnership that will bring the British team to deploy an official Ford Fiesta R5 in the 2019 Italian Rally Championship led by Simone Campedelli and Tania Canton.

For the fourth year, Simone Campedelli and Orange1 Racing will race with a Ford Fiesta R5 in the Italian Championship, this time with the assistance of M-Sport Poland with whom they can exploit their full potential.

"The entry of M-Sport in the Italian Rally Championship has an implicit but also clear meaning," said Armando Donazzan, the passionate President of Orange1 Racing.

"The value and the greatness of Malcolm Wilson's team needs no introduction so that this new entry in the Italian scene elevates the Championship itself. A bit like Juventus did, bringing Cristiano Ronaldo to play in the Italian football league! M-Sport is a highest-level technical partner and we are so proud to have them as our partner. We will do in the Rally what we are already doing on the track, where we work with top manufacturers like Lamborghini to reach the best results.

"This championship is a great opportunity not only for us but also for Simone Campedelli, who has the right background to finally prove to be the winner we all know. Simone has a fantastic career opportunity and the collaboration with M-Sport can lead to great future development."

The snow and ice of Rally Sweden marks the start of the 2019 FIA Junior World Rally Championship this weekend from February 14-17, as 13 drivers look to follow in the footsteps of some of the WRC’s biggest stars. Six of 2018’s entrants are joined by seven Junior WRC rookies, from 10 different countries representing three continents.

A song of ice and snow

The Junior WRC is the ultimate test for rally crews on a completely level playing field, thanks to all drivers using identical equipment and having equal resources available to them on each event. It means that crews must focus on every detail of rallying in order to be successful. To extract maximum performance, crews will be working hard on detailed and expertly-studied pace notes, precise and informed suspension setups, and carefully monitored tyre pressures.

All of 2019’s Junior WRC crews will contest each rally in the all-new, 200 horsepower, EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta R2. Designed and developed by M-Sport Poland, the car is a clean-sheet design that takes inspiration from Sébastien Ogier’s 2018 championship-winning Ford Fiesta WRC. Along with engine updates, the new car has received a new gearbox, suspension components and chassis.

This is the third time that Rally Sweden is on the Junior WRC calendar, with the previous two winners both being from Sweden: Dennis Rådström (2018) and Per-Gunnar Andersson (2006). The key for each crew is to continually assess tyre and surface conditions throughout the rally: a necessity when using studded tyres. The tungsten-tipped tyre studs give relatively high grip; however, if the tyres begin to cut through the frozen surface and contact the gravel base, there is a risk of losing studs. The consequence of this is reduced grip when returning to an icy surface, as fewer studs mean less grip.

A unique feature of Rally Sweden is how the drivers use snow banks to gain an advantage – but in typical rally fashion there is an inherent risk to this technique. Sliding the rear of the car out to gently contact the snow bank helps it to get around the corner; getting this wrong though could lead to the front losing grip and digging into the snowbank itself. Experience of winter condition is key to perfecting this skill. And if all else fails, each car carries an emergency shovel…

Wolf Lubricants joins the Junior WRC pack

The FIA Junior WRC is a unique series where partners work closely together. Joining M-Sport and Pirelli in 2019 is premium lubricant brand Wolf Lubricants. This is a new technical partnership for the Junior WRC, with all of its Fiesta R2 cars now using Wolf Lubricants’ extensive range of products. This premium brand has put all of its expertise into developing high quality lubricants that are key to extracting and maintaining optimal performance in a rally car.

Maciej Woda, Junior WRC Team Director: “I am really pleased and excited to welcome Wolf Lubricants as a Junior WRC partner. As the entry-level championship in WRC’s ladder of opportunity, Wolf Lubricants has demonstrated its belief in the Junior WRC and the rally stars of the future. The partnership we share with Wolf Lubricants is a technical partnership and we are very enthusiastic about using their range of products for the 2019 Junior WRC.”

Frédéric Decroix, Wolf Global Marketing Director: “The FIA Junior WRC provides Wolf with the perfect technological platform to develop the lubricants of tomorrow in the most demanding conditions. Wolf caters to the latest generation of engines with cutting-edge lubricant products and additive technologies, delivering the highest levels of quality and race-derived performance.”

Keeping it on the road

Parity of equipment is a cornerstone of the FIA Junior WRC, ensuring that only raw talent makes the difference. As a result, the drivers all use exactly the same Pirelli tyres. The JWRC cars will be fitted with the Sottozero Ice WJ in Sweden, which features 360 studs in each tyre, and a special vulcanisation process to ensure that the studs stay in place. The drivers are allowed to use 22 tyres during the event (including shakedown) but how and when they use them is down to the individual crews.

Terenzio Testoni, Pirelli Rally Activity Manager: “Starting the championship on one of the most specialised events of the year, with a specialised tyre, underlines what a powerful education it is. We’ve got an exciting array of new drivers and a brand new car in the JWRC, but exactly the same philosophy of helping to promote the careers of up-and-coming young talents: the common goal for all the championship partners.”

What the drivers said

71 Dennis Rådström / Johan Johansson

“We have a lot of experience in Junior WRC, after two seasons with some success. We have done a lot of testing and racing in January in Sweden and we’re feeling well prepared for this season.”

72 Ken Torn / Kuldar Sikk

“I am very excited for this season and to build on my experience from last year. I had some success in 2018 and I am looking forward to my time in the new R2 car which I have already been able to get some experience in.”

73 Julius Tannert / Helmar Hinneberg

“This year is my last chance to go for the Junior WRC title. I have experience from the last two years and I’m able to push thanks to that. I think I have made good progress since I started in Junior WRC and I believe we can fight for wins and podiums this year.”

74 Tom Kristensson / Henrik Appelskog

“I am really proud just to start the season and be a part of Junior WRC in 2019. To be able to participate with a new team and new challenge is exciting. To be honest I’m not really local to this rally, it takes a while to get here from home so I have limited snow and ice experience.”

75 Roland Poom / Ken Jarveoja

“The 2019 season is going to be a long and interesting learning curve for me and an opportunity to prove myself. We aim to enjoy the rallies, collect experience and finally show what we're capable of.”

76 Martin Sesks / Krisjanis Caune

“This is a new year with new challenges. Everything is new for me this year: a new team, car and championship. We have done some snow and ice tests as well as two winter rallies and I’m hoping for a good result in Sweden.”

77 Tom Williams / Phil Hall

“My goal is to have more intensity on the Junior WRC rallies this year. The last year has been such a steep learning curve, coming from national rallies. This year I’m more relaxed and want to build on the intensity on each event.”

78 Jan Solans / Mauro Barreiro

“I know that my first year in the Junior WRC is not going to be easy, but I’d like to get as much experience as possible. My aim is to show some speed and I want to cover a lot of kilometres too.”

79 Raul Badiu / Gabriel Lazar

“The 2019 season will be a learning year for me: I have very limited experience of rallying in Romania. Hopefully I will be able to develop on each stage of every rally, as there’s a really high level of competition in Junior WRC.”

80 Nico Knacker / Tobias Braun

“It’s my first year in Junior WRC and we are really happy to be here. We want to learn the events this year as it’s all completely new for us: I have never driven on ice, snow or gravel.”

81 Enrico Oldrati / Elia de Guio

“For 2019 I hope to improve on my results from 2018, and hopefully be in the top five. I have worked hard over winter to build on my experience as I didn’t have many kilometres behind me last year.”

82 Fabrizio Zaldivar / Fernando Mussano

“This is my first year of rallying outside of my home country and my priority is to get as much experience as possible. Following this, I am setting my aims higher for next year at the top of Junior WRC.”

83 Sean Johnston / Alex Kihurani

“In my first year of Junior WRC my primary objective is simply to learn as much as is physically possible. I come from a sportscar racing background, so rallying is very new to me. The main objective is to simply get as many kilometres as I can.”

as many kilometres as possible.”

Hampshire-based motorsport preparation firm EDSL Sport have been announced as the official M-Sport Ford Fiesta R2 reseller for the UK. Despite being a relatively new company, only breaking cover on Britain's round of the FIA World Rally Championship, EDSL Sport has grown from strength to strength thanks to a progressive and dynamic business plan. Their experience in the sport and knowledge of each generation of the Ford Fiesta has landed them the contract from M-Sport Poland to become the UK outlet for all Fiesta R2 enquires. They will now become the official contact to supply competition parts, technical support, car builds and sales as well as on-event support with a dedicated M-Sport parts truck at each round of the British Rally Championship. EDSL Sport has made waves in the rallying community in the past few months and has built a dedicated 12-car, fully-kitted workshop to cater for customer cars and new-builds alike. They were also one of the first teams to commit to the 2019 British Rally Championship, signing up-and-coming driver and 2018 BRC Cadet Cup Champion Alex Reynolds and co-driver Peredur Davies to spearhead their assault on the Junior series. In addition, EDSL Sport will be the first team in the UK to take delivery of the brand new 2019 M-Sport built Ford Fiesta R2’s which shares little in common with its predecessor thanks to a complete re-design for this season. The firm will receive two of the M-Sport built machines in time for the opening round of the British Championship, The Cambrian Rally on 15th February.

Team Manager Alex Waterman is delighted to become a partner of M-Sport Poland in 2019. “It really is a privilege to become the M-Sport re-seller in the UK and we are truly honoured to be helping to deliver the fantastic new Fiesta R2 to the UK market,” says Waterman.“M-Sport is an iconic name in rallying around the world and we are really looking forward to continuing to deliver that ethos through everything we do for our customers. It’s great that they have put their trust in us to help the competitors here get the most from their Fiesta’s and no matter what generation of R2 they have, we can help with any aspect of the car. It’s certainly going to be a busy year in 2019 but one we have been building up to for a while, Thanks to the support of M-Sport, Pirelli and a great team around us, we are certainly ready for it”. Maciej Woda, Head of M-Sport Poland, had no hesitation in handing over the reins to EDSL Sport. " He is equally excited about the season ahead with the new R2 car.“I can’t wait to see the All New Fiesta R2 competing in UK. We know from testing how competitive this car is and we really believe it will be great weapon amongst competitors now. We learnt a lot since first turbocharged R2 has been introduced and we know this is now a very reliable and performing package.” The Ford Fiesta R2 has been the market leader of the category since its creation in 2009 and is now a popular sight on events across the world. After a handful of evolutions, the Fiesta packs a turbo-charged 999cc Ford EcoBoost engine which delivers 200 HP at 6,500 RPM, putting it at the pinnacle of R2 machinery. The timing of the M-Sport deal could not have been better for Waterman after the BRC announced a significant prize structure for Fiesta drivers in the Junior BRC and a shift to a single make format in 2020.“In my rallying career, I've not driven anything else apart from Fords so I truly believe in the product and support that M-Sport provide. When the announcement came that they were helping to provide a clear path to the Junior World Rally Championship I was really pleased for our customers. M-Sport have always done their best to assist talented youngsters, and we are certainly proud to be a part of that in 2019 and beyond."

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team secured the very first WRC 2 Pro victory at last month’s Rallye Monte-Carlo and will return to the snow-covered stages of Rally Sweden with two EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta R5s for Gus Greensmith and Łukasz Pieniążek.

Greensmith made history when he became the first WRC 2 Pro winner last month, but the Brit will face a fresh challenge when he tackles a classic snow rally for only the second time in his career.

The Mancurian first took to the white stuff in 2017 when he secured fifth place in the WRC 2 category. Having developed his skills over the past two years, Greensmith will be keen to show his potential against some of the championship’s most experienced snow specialists next week.

Getting his season underway next week, Pieniążek also has limited experience on snow when compared to others in the WRC 2 Pro category. The Pole did however finish eighth overall when contesting last year’s Arctic Rally Lapland, and has been working hard in the lead up to his debut with the Fiesta R5.

Getting to grips with M-Sport and Ford’s most successful global rally car whilst improving his skills on the ice, Pieniążek conducted a comprehensive test in Estonia to familiarise himself with the high-speed sensation that only comes with studded tyres, ice and snow.

The two crews might not have the same experience as their rivals when it comes to winter rallying, but the Fiesta is a proven winner – securing all but one WRC 2 victory on snow and ice since the category was introduced in 2013.

Gus Greensmith said:

“It took a while for my first win to sink in and I’ll admit to having to pinch myself a few times after being called a Monte winner! But this sport doesn’t wait for you to savour the moment and my mind quickly turned to Rally Sweden where I hope to go for another strong result.

“I have very little experience of this event and the driving style needed for winter rallying, so our pre-event test will be particularly important for our preparation. We’ve only got one day so we will have to be really focused and productive to try and get everything done.

“The route is pretty similar to last year so I have also spent countless hours studying the onboard videos to make sure that I am as prepared as I can be. I still don’t have a lot of experience on snow, but hopefully that will go some way to making up for it and I am definitely going to give it my all.

“It will be tough against the guys who have grown up on snow, but I have a great team around me and I feel at the top of my game – so we have every chance of continuing to challenge at the top.”

Łukasz Pieniążek said:

“This will be my second start in Sweden and only my third with a four-wheel-drive car on snow. I don't have a lot of experience in these conditions, but I really enjoy them.

“To prepare, we had a good three-day test in Estonia where we completed around 450 kilometres and got a good feeling with the Fiesta and a good understanding of how it handles in these snowy conditions. We’ll have another test with the team on Monday and I’m really looking forward to the rally.

“I really like driving on snow. The studded tyres give great grip but it does take some getting used to which is pretty challenging. Then there are the snowbanks. You don't want to get stuck in one of them so it's important to be really precise – especially in the narrow sections.

“My number one goal is to give my best and go as fast as we can. It will be our first rally with the new team and with a new car so let's see what we can do.

“The recce will be very important to understand the conditions and choose the right setup. If we do that, then I'm sure we'll have lots of fun on some of the most beautiful stages on the calendar.”

Team Principal, Richard Millener, said:

“Gus and Łukasz don’t have a massive amount of experience on snow, and they’ll be going up against three guys who have winter rallying in their blood. It will be difficult to replicate our Monte-Carlo victory, but we’re certainly up for the challenge.

“Both drivers are capable of a WRC 2 Pro podium and the Fiesta has a pretty impressive record when it comes to Rally Sweden – securing all but one WRC 2 victory in the past six years! The competition will be tough, but we’ve got the potential to spring a few surprises and will be working hard to do just that.”

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s Elfyn Evans, Teemu Suninen and Pontus Tidemand will be hoping for a classic Rally Sweden when the FIA World Rally Championship ventures to Värmland’s frozen forests next week – their later road positions meaning the more snow the better!

As one of the fastest events on the calendar, every second counts and the team are meticulous when it comes to ensuring the EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta WRCs can compete at peak performance. Every detail counts and nothing is left to chance.

Heated side windows and radiator protection ensures the conditions don’t impact on performance, and high tech meets low tech with carbon fibre snow shovels and tow ropes ready to free stricken cars from the snowbanks. Even the car jack has a reinforced carbon foot to stop it from sinking into the snow!

Every detail has been considering for this unique winter rally, and the team are determined to realise their potential. With two Scandinavians in the team, the stage is set and we’re ready to show what we can do in the land of ice and snow.

For the first time, there will also be five top-specification Ford Fiesta WRCs in competition – Evans, Suninen and Tidemand joined by privateers Lorenzo Bertelli and Janne Tuohino.

Team Principal, Richard Millener, said:

“We’ve regrouped after Monte and are determined to do better in Sweden. If the conditions are good all three drivers could have a good road position and, if that is the case, it will be important to make the most of the advantage. We showed some good speed last month and I’m confident that we can do the same on snow.

“Elfyn is a previous Rally Sweden category winner and people often forget the names he beat to take that WRC 2 victory back in 2016. Teemu doesn’t have as much experience as people might expect when it comes to winter rallying, but he’s a quick learner and keen to show what he can do.

“And then there’s Pontus – the local hero who grew up on these roads. It’s important not to put too much pressure on his shoulders as this is still only his second event with a new-generation world rally car, but we know his potential and he has already learnt a lot so I wouldn’t be surprised to see some good times from him.

“It’s also going to be something of a highlight to see five top-specification Fiestas in the forests – our three manufacturer cars joined by Lorenzo Bertelli and Janne Tuohino. These cars are amazing to watch, and the more we can get out on the stages for the fans to enjoy the better!”

RALLY SWEDEN: A WINTER WONDERLAND

Rally Sweden is the only true winter rally in the FIA World Rally Championship with frozen roads that venture deep into the Swedish and Norwegian forests. Michelin’s studded tyres bite through the snow to capture grip on the hard ice below, and the cars reach phenomenal speeds.

Hard-packed snowbanks can be used to guide the cars through corners at high speed, but if the crews misjudge the art they’ll risk the banks collapsing – leaving them trapped with nothing but a snow shovel and the enthusiasm of the fans to set them free!

There is no doubt about it, Rally Sweden favours the brave and the eventual winner will have had to beat the elements as well as their rivals.

ELFYN EVANS AND SCOTT MARTIN

Elfyn Evans may not have grown up on snow, but the Welshman is a past Rally Sweden winner having out-performed the locals to secure victory in the WRC 2 category when he took to the wheel of the Ford Fiesta R5 in 2016. Co-driver Scott Martin finished second overall at the event last year, and the pairing will be hoping to challenge for the top positions once again next week.

Previous starts: 5

Best result: 6th (2017 and 2015)

Elfyn Evans said:

“As the only winter rally on the calendar, Rally Sweden is pretty special. We had a good test last week and it was important to get the sensation of driving on snow again. We reach incredible speeds and it’s an amazing feeling – making this one of the most enjoyable events of the year when the conditions are good.

“We’ll certainly be hoping that the conditions work in our favour next week and it will be important to make the most of the advantage if that is the case. We’ll have to wait and see what it’s like when we get there, but we have our fingers crossed for a classic Rally Sweden with plenty of snow.

“Monte didn’t end the way we wanted it to, and we need to remain focused and make good on our potential next week. We know that we have the package to achieve a strong result and both myself and Scott have had strong results at this event in the past.

“If everything works in our favour, there’s no reason why we can’t challenge for the top results and that’s what we’re all working towards delivering.”

TEEMU SUNINEN AND MARKO SALMINEN

Having started his motorsport career in karting, Teemu Suninen doesn’t have as much experience as expected when it comes to winter rallying, but that won’t stop the young Finn showing his potential next week. Co-driver Marko Salminen secured victory in the event’s WRC 2 category last year, and the pairing are determined to prove their potential at the highest level of competition.

Previous starts: 3

Best result: 8th (2018)

Teemu Suninen said:

"Last week we drove a good test day with more than 200 kilometres in Finland. We actually had a lot more set-up changes to work through this year, and I could feel we’d taken a step forward.

“Our competitiveness in Rally Sweden will of course depend a bit on the weather. There is always a chance to minimise the time loss when someone else is cleaning the road for the drivers behind. The key is to stay on the clean line for as long as possible.

“The speed in Sweden is close to the figures we reach in Rally Finland. Sometimes we may lean on the snowbanks as well, but it is not always intentional.

“We start this rally with the notes I made last year, and I expect the competition to be just as tough as it was in Monte. Everyone wants the top positions, and we will have to work hard to ensure we are also in the hunt.”

PONTUS TIDEMAND AND OLA FLØENE

Pontus Tidemand will have the home crowd on side next week as he’s the only Swede to contest this year’s Rally Sweden with a new-generation world rally car. Having got to grips with the power and performance of the top-specification Fiesta at last month’s Rallye Monte-Carlo, Tidemand and co-driver Ola Fløene showed their potential and will be keen to make a good impression on home soil.

Previous starts: 7

Best result: 8th (2014)

Pontus Tidemand said:

“Rally Sweden is the highlight of my year – the big one that I always look forward to and I feel one hundred percent ready to take on the challenge of my home event. And what makes it even better is that I'm behind the wheel of the most amazing car I've ever driven.

“To speed through the snowy forests and see all the fans, the bonfires and the Swedish flags waving is an amazing feeling that beats everything. And to know that I have family, friends and supporters out there really gives me a boost.

“I'm starting to feel very comfortable with the car and I already feel at home in the M-Sport team. When we came to Monte-Carlo last month, more or less everything was new and it was all about learning. It was an extremely important experience for both me and Ola and it gave us a chance to get used to it all.

“I've said all along that Rally Sweden is where I want to be competitive and on top performance. This is my home event, I know it very well and I have a great feeling about it this year. It will still be very demanding and challenging, and we will have to step up our game and quickly find a good rhythm that we can hopefully keep throughout the weekend.”

Rising Scottish rally driver Finlay Retson will take the next step of his career in 2019 by launching an assault on the Junior British Rally Championship behind the wheel of a brand new M-Sport Ford Fiesta R2. The Blairgowrie ace narrowly missed out on taking the Cadet Cup title last season in an older generation Fiesta, but thanks to the support of his backers, will be using the latest specification Ford direct from the factory in Poland. The M-Sport built machine will arrive in the UK just days before the opening round of the season, The Cambrian Rally on 15th February in North Wales. At just 18 years of age, Retson will be one of the youngest competitors in the series which will see some of the fastest Junior drivers in Europe vie for a prize fund worth over 60,000 Euro. Retson will own one of only a handful of the impressive new one-litre EcoBoost Ford Fiestas in the country and will be aiming to build on his experience learnt in the championship during his 2018 campaign. Retson is a model of progression in British rallying, competing in the F1000 Scottish Junior series for 14-17-year-olds and taking the title in 2016. Retson then headed into the BTRDA Fiesta ST Trophy, where he took his inaugural win on only his fourth event in the car. Last season he progressed into the BRC Cadet Cup for newcomers to the series and despite leading each event contested, could only convert that into a win in Ulster thanks to mechanical woes. Now, he will make the leap into the hotly contested Junior series which, thanks to M-Sport and Pirelli, offers the chance of a 60,000 Euro prize fund to put towards a full campaign in the 2020 FIA Junior WRC Championship.“There is no doubt the new M-Sport Fiesta R2 is the quickest and capable car out there at the moment and I'm really very privileged to be able to compete in one this season,” he says.“I was invited to the launch day in Poland earlier this year and was very impressed. But the backup and support provided my M-Sport is second to none and that was also a huge factor in the decision to try and acquire one for this season. I'm hugely indebted to my backers and sponsors for their faith in me and the chance to drive one in the championship."

But Retson is well aware of the task ahead and is citing experience as his goal this season rather than wins and has recruited the knowledgeable Tom Hynd to the co-driver’s seat for a second BRC season. Despite Retson having one of the most advanced R2 cars at his disposal, he is remaining realistic about the possibilities in 2019.“I know the car will be able to compete at the highest level and fight for the title but I am very much thinking about 2019 as another learning year for me. Whilst I've competed on some of the events before, there is still some new ground to cover and that will take some time to learn. I don’t want to set my expectations too high so with the news that the Junior BRC will revert to a single make formula for the Fiesta in 2020, I`d like to continue to learn at my own pace for a full assault next season.” Six rounds will make up the calendar, with the Cambrian a new addition and kick-starting the Championship next month, utilising in the forests which were used on the World Rally Championship qualifier Wales Rally GB last October. Another new round, the West Cork Rally takes crews to the bumpy closed roads in Ireland, before a return to the Kielder forest and the Pirelli International Rally in April. A trip to Belgium in the summer for the Ypres Rally will mark familiar territory for Retson, as will the Ulster Rally in August. Whilst the season finale on the Galloway Hills Rally will be new for many, Retson will have the advantage of contesting the event previously as part of his Scottish Rally Championship outings. But the youngster is eager to take this season one step at a time.“I need to start the season off on the right foot this time. I was leading the opening round last year before a technical failure so getting some confidence during round one will be important. Time will be against us, but I do hope to have a brief test in the car before we head to Wales. It's going to be a big year for me and my career, so I need to stay focused on the task at hand and not get too excited, which is proving pretty hard right now.” Retson is also eager to hear from interested businesses or supporters who would like to be involved with the team’s activities during 2019 and beyond. Retson is supported by DJR Services, JSR Services - Blairgowrie Ltd, G S Robertson Ltd, Kevin Donachie Electricians, West Ranga Properties, Robert Morton Joiners & Contractors, Vital Equipment Limited, Andrew Wood Motorsport, The Campervan Company and Results Gym Forfar.

Regs and online entries are available at www.Malcolmwilson.co.uk. A £50 deposit will reserve an entry for those feeling the pinch after Christmas.

Scrutineering will be on the Main Street in Cockermouth under floodlights with the support of the Town Council and Allerdale Borough Council. In the past scrutineering has been restricted to entrants as it has taken place at M- Sport HQ but this should bring the rally to the people and allow them to see what the cars are really about.

Also in attendance will be Motorsport Mugs, M-Sport, the Police will have a road safety stand and the Fire Brigade will be present. The event supports various community groups such as Nunwick Cricket Club, Garstang Canoe Club and Duddon Mountain Rescue and this year M-Sport’s nominated charity Hospice at Home will be present.

Go Motorsport with West Cumbria Motorsport Club will be on hand to explain what Motorsport is about and promoting Club membership and participation to the spectators.

Forests are restricted for Spectators this year as Greystoke is a non-spectator stage due to logging in progress and another stage has no parking facility. However Whinlatter Pass provides a choice of forests (Hobcarton and Comb) and Grizedale has ample parking and vantage points. Details are on the website.

Marshals are always required and volunteers can contact the organisers at mwrmarshals@gmail.com. Tell us what time you are free and which stage you would prefer.

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s three EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta WRCs all encountered challenges at this weekend’s Rallye Monte-Carlo, but Teemu Suninen and Pontus Tidemand completed the notoriously difficult event to gain good experience for the future.

Despite their issues, both youngsters showed flashes of speed that bodes well for the future – a brave tyre choice rewarding Suninen with the fourth fastest time on SS7 whilst Tidemand was the fastest man through a number of split sections.

Suninen also secured a championship point for the fifth fastest time through the Power Stage – bettering that of both Loeb and Latvala who were pushing for position – and the team will take their potential forward to next month’s Rally Sweden.

Team Principal, Richard Millener, said:

“This isn’t the rally we wanted, but we need to look to the positives and come back stronger in Sweden. We know that we have a competitive car and that we were capable of more this weekend – all three crews showing their potential with some competitive stage and split times. Elfyn had the pace to go for a strong result, and Teemu and Pontus both made a lot of progress and got some good experience under the belts – something that is vital to doing well at this notoriously difficult event.”

Teemu Suninen (11th) said:

“It’s a shame that we went off on the first stage because the rest of the rally has been really good. But we got a lot of good experience and I had some pace on the snow sections. The more we learnt, the more we were able to build our pace and I was happy to get a Power Stage point today – beating Latvala and Loeb who were both fighting for position.”

Pontus Tidemand (20th) said:

“This car is amazing to drive and I have had a lot of fun this weekend. I’ve learnt a lot and need to thank the team and my route note crew for a really good job. We’ll analyse where we were good and where we weren’t quite so good. On the slippery sections we set some really fast splits, but on the dry Tarmac we weren’t on the pace and I need more time behind the wheel to use the full potential of the car. But it was good to get the kilometres and the experience. And we’ll have a good test before Rally Sweden where I hope to show another improvement.”

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s Gus Greensmith and Elliott Edmondson have taken their maiden victory at this weekend’s Rallye Monte-Carlo.

Delivering an impressive performance behind the wheel of their EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta R5, the Brits secured the win in the WRC 2 Pro and RC2 classes, as well as a notable seventh place in the overall standings.

Demonstrating the progress he has made over the past twelve months, Greensmith’s inspired drive paired his customary speed with the control and consistency needed to tame the stages of this notoriously difficult event.

The pairing’s flawless performance also demonstrated the power and performance of M-Sport and Ford’s most successful global rally car – the Fiesta R5 continuing to win stages, rallies and championships six years after its debut.

Rewarded with a career-best result at one of the world’s most iconic events, Greensmith will be spurred on by the taste of victory – not least when he takes to the top-specification Fiesta at Rally de Portugal and when he gets his hands on the all-new Fiesta R5 later this summer.

Team Principal, Richard Millener, said:

“Congratulations to Gus and Elliott. We knew Gus’ first victory wasn’t far away, but to claim it on an event as difficult as this with the experience he has just shows how far he has come. The partnership between him and Elliott is working really well and they didn’t put a foot wrong all weekend. It was a very impressive, mature drive and they can both be extremely proud of this milestone achievement on their first step up to WRC 2 Pro.

“The Fiesta R5 is our most successful global rally car and it’s still winning rallies and championships around the world. What we have achieved here with Gus – in a car that is effectively six years old – bodes extremely well for the future. Gus will certainly be hungry for more victories this year, and I see no reason why he can’t achieve that; especially when we debut the new car this summer.”

Gus Greensmith said:

“I’m pretty sure this is the best day of my life so far! It took us a while to get here, but it’s an amazing feeling and there are so many people I need to thank. It was almost a perfect rally from beginning to end and we did everything we needed to do. When we needed to push and build a gap, we did. And when we needed to control it, we did. It’s definitely been my best ever performance behind the wheel, and now I’m just looking forward to a beer and letting it all sink in!”

Elliott Edmondson said:

“It’s been a brilliant rally back with Gus and we couldn’t have asked for any more. Monte is always a challenge so I can’t say it was easy, but we managed the whole weekend really well. We showed speed when we had to, and were more cautious when we could afford to be. We couldn’t have asked for a better start and here’s hoping for more good results as the season continues!”

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s Gus Greensmith and Elliott Edmondson continued their impressive performance at Rallye Monte-Carlo today. Contesting the event for the first time with four-wheel-drive machinery, the British pairing won three out of four stages in the RC2 class – maintaining a strong lead in the WRC 2 Pro category whilst also increasing their RC2 lead to over a minute and a half.

Gus Greensmith (1st WRC 2 Pro and RC2) said:

“Three out of four stage wins, so I would call that a good day. I’ve had this calm, quiet confidence with the car today I’ve never had before; and I’ve felt as though I can control the pace exactly as I want to.

“I took the first two stages quite easy as I knew that they were tricky, but I was still able to open the lead from six to twenty seconds. We had a bit of a blip in the first stage of the afternoon [SS11] where I lost five seconds, but we were back on it for the last one [SS12].

“After Bonato made a mistake the lead went up to over a minute and a half so we’ve given ourselves a nice buffer for tomorrow. We don’t need to do anything silly. We can be conservative with the tyre choices and bring it home for the win.”

Team Principal, Richard Millener, said:

“Gus and Elliott have been really impressive this weekend and now hold a strong lead in the RC2 class as well as the WRC 2 Pro class. They have the speed but they also have the maturity and it looks as though it’s all coming very naturally to them at the moment.

"This is one of the most difficult events on the calendar, but they’ve faced every challenge head on and are now only four stages away from coming out on top on their four-wheel-drive Monte debut.”

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin have missed out on a solid result this weekend and their EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta WRC won’t be making the journey to Monte-Carlo this evening.

Holding sixth place at the start of the day, the Welshman had the podium within his sights – and the speed and determination to make a move on the timesheets. But it wasn’t to be and he endured a heartbreakingly tough morning.

Taking time out of his two closest rivals on the first speed test (SS9), Evans had the upper hand before a puncture put paid to his efforts. Regrouping for the second stage (SS10), he was then caught out by a patch of black ice – sending him down a steep embankment and into the undergrowth.

With no restart available this evening, Evans’ Rallye Monte-Carlo came to an end five kilometres into SS10 and his attentions are now firmly fixed on preparations for next month’s Rally Sweden.

Elsewhere, Teemu Suninen and Pontus Tidemand continued to gain the vital knowledge and experience needed to succeed at this notoriously difficult event. Contesting Rallye Monte-Carlo for the first time with the power and performance of the top-specification Fiesta, they have both continuously increased their pace and performance throughout the weekend.

Team Principal, Richard Millener, said:

“It’s been a pretty frustrating weekend. We know that we are capable of more and unfortunately we just haven’t been able to show that. Elfyn and Scott were delivering a really solid drive and we were confident of climbing the leader board, but that all came to an end this morning.

“It was looking good on the first stage [SS9] before they picked up a puncture, and then on the second [SS10] there was a particularly nasty patch of black ice that caught out a number of drivers. It put them slightly off the road and down an embankment where they had no chance of getting back on the stage.

“With no restart that was literally the end of the road, but Teemu and Pontus are still going and it’s good to see how much progress they have both shown over the course of the weekend. They’ve both shown good speed when you consider how little knowledge they have here, and they’ll continue to gain that all-important experience tomorrow.”

Elfyn Evans (DNF) said:

“The first stage this morning [SS9] started off okay, but we picked up a puncture which was pretty unlucky. It was on the rear in a cut that everyone else had been in. It was just one of those things, and we made the decision to continue which I think was right in terms of time.

“Then on the next stage [SS10] there was a pretty straight forward left-hander that’s been around for a number of years. I didn’t approach it any differently to how I usually would, but it seems as though the grip levels were particularly low.

“Maybe there was some black ice as a few cars got caught out, but they were a lot luckier than us. There was quite a steep bank with some trees on the outside, the car got dragged down, and that’s where our Rallye Monte-Carlo came to the end.

“Everyone comes to a rally with the best intentions, and it definitely wasn’t part of the plan to start the year on the bad note. All of our attentions are now fully focused on the next event and we’re looking forward to getting back on it in Sweden.”

Teemu Suninen (14th) said:

“Today was a pretty good day for us and we didn’t make any mistakes. We showed good pace this morning, but in the afternoon I was too careful. I was concentrated on looking after the studs, but actually the ice layer had become so thin that the studs didn’t give any extra grip. But I think I can be happy with my day and how my pace has improved throughout the weekend.”

Pontus Tidemand (24th) said:

“We have seen some very tricky conditions today so I’m glad to be here. We had a slow puncture after six kilometres in the first stage this morning [SS9] and, as we only had one spare, we took it really carefully after that.

“It’s so easy to make a mistake in these conditions so I tried to be on the safe side this afternoon as well. We need time in the car to learn, and it was important to make sure that we continue to get more experience tomorrow.”

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin continue to hold a strong sixth place after rolling the dice with a brave tyre choice this afternoon. With their EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta WRC less than 30 seconds adrift of the podium, Rallye Monte-Carlo is far from over and there remains all to play for.

Taking four of Michelin’s Pilot Alpin Soft tyres and two studded tyres into the afternoon loop, the Brits knew that they would lose time on the first stage (SS6) – a long stretch of compacted ice demanding a cautious drive from the Welshman.

But the conditions came to him on the next test (SS7) where Evans set the second fastest time. In hindsight, a cross of the two tyre types on the final stage (SS8) would have provided the optimum configuration for the loop as a whole, but nothing ventured nothing gained and the team can remain upbeat on another positive day at the office.

Returning to the stages following yesterday’s disappointment, Teemu Suninen and Marko Salminen focused on gaining the vital experience needed to tame this legendary event.

Not in a fight for the top positions, the Finns took care to learn the stages and took the same tyre choice as their team mate Evans over the afternoon loop – a brave move that rewarded them with the fourth fastest time through the second pass of Roussieux – Laborel (SS7).

Continuing his debut with the new-generation Ford Fiesta WRC, Pontus Tidemand adopted a steady start but showed great progress throughout the day. Getting closer to the leading times, he was the third fastest man at the second split point of SS6.

Unfortunately, the Swede then damaged the front-left wishbone of his Fiesta in a cut. He and co-driver Ola Fløene were forced to retire for the day but will return to gain more knowledge and experience tomorrow.

Team Principal, Richard Millener, said:

“We’ve seen another strong performance from Elfyn and Scott today. We decided to take a bit of a risk with the tyre choice this afternoon – losing time in the first stage but then setting the second fastest time on the second. In hindsight, we didn’t get the combination quite right for the last stage but it’s still been a positive afternoon.

“The conditions for tomorrow look tricky again and hopefully there’ll be an opportunity to take some more time back. We just need to keep doing what we’re doing and see how far up the leader board we can get.

“Teemu had a much better day – learning the rally and setting the fourth fastest time with his slick tyres on SS6 – and you could see how much Pontus was improving both his pace and his confidence. At one point this afternoon he was the third quickest man in the stage which was pretty impressive, but then he just got caught out which was a real shame.”

Elfyn Evans (6th) said:

“We had a pretty good day behind the wheel, but were maybe just a little bit too brave on the tyre choice this afternoon. It’s all part of the game and it was certainly nice to get a feeling for the car on pure Tarmac with full Tarmac tyres again [on SS7]. The rest of the day has been pretty tricky and we lost a bit too much time on the icy sections, but that’s what this rally is all about. We’re still here, and we’ll keep at it tomorrow.”

Teemu Suninen (22nd / Rally 2) said:

“Of course I always want to be faster, but I think we have had a good day getting through all of the kilometres and learning a lot about this rally. We took four slick and two studded tyres this afternoon which might have been a bit of a risk. On the first stage there was a long snow section – about seven or eight kilometres – and we lost a lot of time there; but on the other hand we were fourth fastest on the next stage where I would say we had the best possible tyre choice.”

Pontus Tidemand (40th / Rally 2) said:

“On the inside of a corner I was just following the line, but there was something there and it broke the wishbone. I don’t know what it was, but it was the same corner where Esapekka [Lappi] also had some damage. Before that the pace was getting better and better. It will take some time to get there, but I felt like everything was going in the right direction. For sure we are just here to learn, and we plan to continue that tomorrow.”

OVERALL CLASSIFICATION

1. Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia (Citroen C3 WRC) 1:37:17.3

2. Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +2.0

3. Andreas Mikkelsen / Anders Jaeger (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +1:17.7

4. Jari-Matti Latvala / Miikka Anttila (Toyota Yaris WRC) +1:25.1

5. Sébastien Loeb / Daniel Elena (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +1:25.9

6. Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin (Ford Fiesta WRC) +1:47.5

7. Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja (Toyota Yaris WRC) +2:34.9

8. Kris Meeke / Sebastian Marshall (Toyota Yaris WRC) +5:33.0

9. Gus Greensmith / Elliott Edmondson (Ford Fiesta R5) +7:00.1

10. Yoann Bonato / Benjamin Bouilloud (Citroen C3 R5) +7:06.1

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s Gus Greensmith and Elliott Edmondson continue to hold a commanding lead in the WRC 2 Pro category with their EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta R5. Thanks to an inspired drive throughout the day, the British pairing have also taken control at the head of the RC2 class – outperforming a number of local drivers on what is Greensmith’s first taste of this legendary event with four-wheel-drive machinery.

Gus Greensmith (1st WRC 2 Pro and 1st RC2) said:

“We had a bit of a tricky morning with some overheating issues which meant that we couldn’t always run in full stage mode. We lost a bit of time there, but we were still able to reduce the gap to class-leader Bonato.

“This afternoon we decided to take quite a risky tyre choice with four slick and two snow tyres. We knew we would lose time on the first stage [SS6] and we lost 22 seconds to Bonato in there. But on the next one [SS7] we were able to take back 36 seconds, and on the last one [SS8] we pulled back 29 which means that we now have a six second class lead going into tomorrow.

“The car feels really good, I feel really good, and we just need to keep doing the same thing tomorrow.”

Team Principal, Richard Millener, said:

“Gus has had another really strong day. He wasn’t shy about making a risky tyre choice this afternoon and made it work to his advantage – maintaining the WRC 2 Pro lead but also taking the RC2 lead. This is such a tricky event, and he’s proving that he has what it takes to fight for the top results this weekend. He just needs to continue what he’s doing so far.”

Gus Greensmith and Elliott Edmondson got their 2019 FIA World Rally Championship campaign off to a good start – leading the WRC 2 Pro class behind the wheel of their EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta R5.

Gus Greensmith (1st WRC 2 Pro) said:

“That was a proper start to Rallye Monte-Carlo and I now understand why Malcolm [Wilson, M-Sport Managing Director] kept telling me to come and do this rally! The conditions were extremely tricky and even though we weren’t fully committed, we made it through. We’ll step it up tomorrow and aim to get back on the good pace we showed in Shakedown.”

Team Principal, Richard Millener, said:

“We saw some really challenging conditions this evening that caught out a number of drivers. But Gus delivered a clever drive and made it through unscathed. Tomorrow he can focus on building his pace and strengthening his position.”

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin hold a solid sixth place after Rallye Monte-Carlo’s opening speed tests – their EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta WRC just three seconds shy of the top-four.

Delivering a clean and tidy drive through the challenging conditions that typify this legendary event’s opening night stages, the British pairing are primed for a full day of action tomorrow.

Finding their feet on their maiden outing with the top-specification Fiesta, Pontus Tidemand and Ola Fløene hold a top-ten position and are gaining the vital knowledge and experience needed to progress their skills at this level.

Unfortunately, there was less good news for Teemu Suninen and Marko Salminen as their evening come to an end just three kilometres into the first stage. Caught out by the treacherous conditions, the pairing slid off the road and became stuck in a ditch.

Team Principal, Richard Millener, said:

“Elfyn and Scott delivered a solid drive through some really tricky conditions which sets them up nicely for tomorrow – just three second shy of fourth place and 30 seconds adrift of the podium. And as everyone knows, there is a still a very long way to go with all to play for.

“Pontus and Ola are also doing exactly what they need to do – delivering a clean drive and taking their time to build their pace. I think everyone could see how much Pontus was enjoying the car and how much he wanted to push, but he’s being clever and ensuring he gets the experience he needs.

“Unfortunately it wasn’t the same story for Teemu and Marko. These stages always catch someone out and on this occasion it was Teemu – caught out by a particularly icy section. We’ll get the car fixed tonight, and he can come back tomorrow – focused on learning the stages without any pressure.”

Elfyn Evans (6th) said:

“It’s been a typical start to Rallye Monte-Carlo with some really challenging conditions. We could have gone harder for sure, and I was kicking myself in a few places, but we delivered a clean run and are in a reasonably good position going into tomorrow – which is always the most important thing.”

Pontus Tidemand (10th) said:

“This car is amazing to drive, so I have to be clever and stop myself from pushing too hard! I really want to take the maximum, but I have to be careful as I need the experience from this rally and want to learn as much as I can.”

OVERALL CLASSIFICATION

1. Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja (Toyota Yaris WRC) 26:33.0

2. Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia (Citroen C3 WRC) +9.1

3. Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +14.3

4. Esapekka Lapp / Janne Ferme (Citroen C3 WRC) +45.2

5. Jari-Matti Latvala / Miikka Anttila (Toyota Yaris WRC) +46.4

6. Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin (Ford Fiesta WRC) +48.2

7. Kris Meeke / Sebastian Marshall (Toyota Yaris WRC) +53.8

8. Sébastien Loeb / Daniel Elena (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +55.2

9. Andreas Mikkelsen / Anders Jaeger (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +59.6

10. Pontus Tidemand / Ola Fløene (Ford Fiesta WRC) +1:41.1

M-Sport has retained the winning partnership of Matt Edwards and Alex Laffey ahead of the 2019 British Rally Championship.

Last year saw Edwards deliver a third successive title for the EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta R5, and the Cumbrian squad have no desire to relinquish their home-soil crown this year.

Dominating the championship with inspired performances on both gravel and asphalt, Edwards was very much the man to beat in 2018 and will be looking to further perfect his performance in 2019.

Joined by new co-driver Patrick Walsh, Edwards starts his championship defence at next month’s Cambrian Rally and will be looking for a strong opening result at his home event.

Last year also proved something of a breakthrough for Laffey who delivered a sensational one-two finish for the Fiesta when securing second place in the drivers’ championship.

Clinching his maiden podium as well as his first fastest stage time on gravel at last year’s Wales Rally GB, the Scotsman is keen to continue his development and challenge for further podiums this year.

Joined by experienced co-driver and fellow countryman Stuart Loudon, the pairing are perfectly placed to continue their progression and make further strides in 2019.

M-Sport Managing Director, Malcolm Wilson OBE, said:

“The British Rally Championship has always been close to my heart, and it’s great to continue our winning partnership with Matt and Alex this year. They both delivered breakthrough performances last year, and are both hungry for more so I’m exciting to see what they can do in 2019.

“The Fiesta has won the past three British Rally Championships – with Elfyn Evans in 2016, Keith Cronin in 2017 and of course with Matt in last year. Our goal is to maintain the crown for a fourth year in succession and our team will work hard to ensure the drivers have everything they need to succeed.”

The British Rally Championship, in partnership with M-Sport Poland and Pirelli, is offering the highest placed Fiesta R2T runner in the Junior BRC a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to step into the FIA Junior WRC Championship. Britain’s premier rallying series is a well-known proving ground for rallying stars. Recent BRC graduates include Elfyn Evans, Jari-Matti Latvala, Kris Meeke and co-drivers Scott Martin and Sebastian Marshall all now fighting at the very top of the sport. The latest career-progressing prize will be open to all Fiesta R2T drivers competing in the 2019 Junior BRC. The top driver after six rounds in an M-Sport, Pirelli-shod machine will receive a 30,000 Euro voucher from each company to put towards a full campaign in the 2020 FIA Junior WRC Championship (or similar M-Sport Poland – Pirelli series in the WRC), made payable on an event-by-event basis. The same 60,000 Euro prize offering will continue into 2020 in the British Junior Championship. Next year, the exciting Junior series for drivers aged 26 and under will switch to a Pirelli-backed, one-make M-Sport Ford Fiesta R2T competition, making it the perfect stepping stone to the WRC. “We’re very pleased to be able to offer such a great incentive for young British drivers,” said Junior WRC Manager, Maciej Woda. “M-Sport and Pirelli are both dedicated when it comes to creating opportunities for talented young drivers. And with similar schemes already confirmed in Finland, Estonia and Italy, it was important to introduce them here in the British Rally Championship – where so many great rally drivers started their careers. “This year, we have also chosen Wales Rally GB as the final round of the FIA Junior WRC Championship – bringing the junior drivers to one of the world’s most iconic events whilst also allowing the young British drivers to judge their pace against those fighting for the FIA Junior WRC crown.” “Pirelli has always had a philosophy of supporting young rally drivers, through schemes such as Pirelli Star Driver and WRC Academy in the past, so we’re delighted to be part of this latest initiative to help bring young drivers onto the world stage”. Mario Isola, head of car racing, Pirelli. “We are very excited to be working with WRC giants M-Sport and Pirelli,” enthused BRC Manager Iain Campbell. “The BRC has long been the springboard for drivers and co-drivers to make that step-up to the higher echelons of the sport. As well as a secured spot on the 2020 JWRC entry list, we also understand the financial implications for young drivers trying to progress their careers and by working with M-Sport and Pirelli, the 60,000 Euro prize fund is another massive boost and will go a long way in giving the winner that helping hand. “We are pleased the relationship will also extend into the 2020 series where the Junior BRC will become, like the Junior WRC a one-make Fiesta category. This will enable drivers to get themselves up to speed with the latest products from the blue oval – making that step to the global series a seamless and less daunting transition.” Registrations for the 2019 British Rally Championship are now open and entries for the season curtain raiser, the Visit Conwy Cambrian Rally (16 February), are now also open.

Gus Greensmith is geared up for the opening round of the 2019 FIA World Rally Championship at next week’s Rallye Monte-Carlo. Teaming up with new co-driver Elliott Edmondson in an M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Ford Fiesta R5, the pairing will battle for victory in the new WRC 2 Pro class.

Greensmith got his first taste of Rallye Monte-Carlo last year – learning the unique nature of the legendary event behind the wheel of a Ford Fiesta R2. Despite being forced to retire with a mechanical issue, the Brit held his own against a strong local field and showed stage-winning pace – something he’ll be keen to replicate when making his four-wheel-drive Monte debut next week.

Gus Greensmith said:

“The conditions at Rallye Monte-Carlo are so unpredictable and you have to be very aware and focused to pull together a winning performance. It’s crazy. One second it’s dry and the next it’s full snow! And the thrill of driving on snow with a Tarmac set-up is second to none!

“A win in Monte is something that every driver wants to achieve, and we’ll be pushing towards that goal. I’ve got a good feeling for the rally, and just need to bring it all together next week.”

Team Principal, Richard Millener, said:

“Rallye Monte-Carlo is one of those events where experience and confidence count for a lot. Gus is a little on the back foot as he contested the event for the first time with a two-wheel-drive Fiesta R2 last year. But he certainly has the ambition and determination to do well, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a strong performance from him.

“He has the pace, and is developing a consistency that will work in his favour next week. If he can pull everything together there’s no reason why he can’t challenge for the top results in the inaugural round of this exciting new WRC 2 Pro Championship – a result that all of the competitors will be after.”

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team are focused on delivering a strong performance at the opening round of the 2019 FIA World Rally Championship – Teemu Suninen, Elfyn Evans and Pontus Tidemand all pushing for the best possible result at the legendary Rallye Monte-Carlo.

Refusing to rest on the five laurels secured over the past two years, M-Sport and Ford’s strong technical partnership continues and the leading EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta WRCs will carry a number of significant upgrades next week.

Revisions to the rear bumper and louvres have been introduced to improve performance and durability on the aerodynamics, while new dampers and electronics increase usability. The lamp pods have evolved to incorporate adaptive lighting, and an engine upgrade delivers an appreciable increase in performance.

The Cumbrian squad have also conducted two comprehensive test sessions in the lead-up to Rallye Monte-Carlo – a development test with Suninen at the end of last year and a more targeted pre-event test with all three drivers last week.

Encountering a number of varying conditions, the team are as prepared as they can be and are ready to tackle one of rallying’s most notoriously challenging events.

Team Principal, Richard Millener, said:

“There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be competitive this year. Of course we need to be realistic and know how strong the competition will be, but we’ve proven ourselves more than capable and have no intention of slowing down.

“The team have been focused on development and we’re bringing a number of upgrades to Monte-Carlo with more to come over the next six months. We’ve also got a lot of potential in our young and ambitious drivers. Elfyn, Teemu and Pontus are all keen to show what they can do next week, and we plan on giving them everything they need to succeed.

“I fully expect another exciting year of close-fought competition, and our goal is to be in the fight for victories as well as podiums – showcasing the performance of the Fiesta and supporting all of our crews as they take the next step in their respective careers.”

RALLYE MONTE-CARLO

As the oldest event in the FIA World Rally Championship, Rallye Monte-Carlo has iconic status and is one of the most unpredictable and challenging events of the year. It’s a rally that every driver wants to win, and they’ll all be pushing towards that goal next week.

Famed for its varied conditions, it’s not uncommon to see dry asphalt, ice and snow in the space of a single stage and the crews will need to find the best compromise for each leg – shrewd tyre choices and set-up configurations often making all the difference.

ELFYN EVANS AND SCOTT MARTIN

Elfyn Evans joins forces with new co-driver Scott Martin and the pairing will be looking to start their partnership on a high by challenging for the podium positions at Rallye Monte-Carlo. To best prepare, the pairing conducted a two-day test and have spent a number of days perfecting their new partnership with plenty of pacenote practice in advance of the recce!

Evans has contested Rallye Monte-Carlo on five previous occasions and will be looking to secure his best Monte result next week. The Welshman deserved more than a sixth-place finish last year – denied an opportunity to fight for what would have been a place in the top-three when having to stop and change a puncture on the opening speed test.

Elfyn Evans said:

“I’m looking forward to getting this season underway and seeing what myself and Scott can achieve together. We’re both really motivated and determined to secure some strong results this year – and I see no reason why we shouldn’t be doing that from the very first event in Monte.

“We know from last year that we have the speed and the team have been working really hard to improve the car even further. It felt good on the test and we managed to get a feel for a lot of different conditions – damp to wet Tarmac on the first day followed by full snow on the second.

“I’ve always enjoyed the challenge of an event like Monte, but I tend not to look at the forecasts too far in advance. The weather is constantly changing and you need to be able to adapt to the conditions and make the correct tyre choices at short notice – something we’re very much focused on doing next week.”

TEEMU SUNINEN AND MARKO SALMINEN

Teemu Suninen is also joined by a new co-driver this year in the form of fellow Finn Marko Salminen. The pairing contested last year’s Monza Rally Show together and have since completed two test sessions to further perfect their new partnership.

Suninen has contested Rallye Monte-Carlo on two previous occasions, but this will be his first time attacking the event’s legendary stages with the power and performance of a top-specification world rally car.

Teemu Suninen said:

“I’m really excited to start this new season, and the expectations are greater than ever! We’ve completed a lot of test kilometres and I’m feeling really well prepared. Last week Elfyn and I shared a couple of days and we both managed to get a lot of kilometres. We also drove two days at the end of last year, so when you put it all together our preparation has never been better!

“The car feels really nice and really easy to drive – something I think is important in Monte as it’s a rally where the driver makes the biggest difference. Starting the rally with two night stages is always a big challenge and we will need to be alert. It would be nice to start the rally with a good stage time, and that is what we’ll be aiming for.

“We’re using the same notes as last year and I have to say that my preparation with Marko has been really good – everything has been perfect before the start of the season and I hope it stays that way as I tackle this famous rally for the first time with a world rally car!”

PONTUS TIDEMAND AND OLA FLØENE

Making his debut behind the wheel of a new-generation world rally car, Pontus Tidemand will take the next step in his career at next week’s Rallye Monte-Carlo. The Swede is reunited with experienced Norwegian co-driver Ola Fløene, and the pairing will be looking to learn as much as they can ahead of their home event in Sweden.

Having completed a day’s testing last week, the Scandinavian pairing also spent a number of days in the workshop – meeting their new team and learning as much as they can about the top-specification Fiesta so as to be best prepared for the challenges ahead.

Pontus Tidemand said:

“This is a really exciting time for me and I’m looking forward to making my debut in a new-generation world rally car. Last week we had a pre-event test with a lot of snow and ice and the feeling was really good. But in Monte you never know what the weather is going to do and we’ll still need some time to learn the team and the car.

“The conditions make this one of the most challenging events on the calendar. On dry Tarmac the grip is quite high, but when there’s ice and snow the grip is zero and it looks as though we could experience a proper Monte with all kinds of conditions next week.

“Ola has a lot of experience so it’s great to have him alongside me, and I know the team will give us a lot of guidance and advice throughout the weekend. We spent some days in the workshop this week – getting to know the team and the car – and I think we’re as prepared as we can be. The goal is to get to the finish with as much knowledge and experience as possible.”

The FIA Junior WRC Championship has attracted another strong entry and 13 all-new EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta R2s will line up for the start of the season at next month’s Rally Sweden.

The exciting 2019 line-up sees drivers representing 10 countries across three continents, and the competition is expected to be stronger than ever as they do battle for one of the biggest prizes in motorsport – ownership of a brand-new Ford Fiesta R5 expected to launch this summer and 200 competition tyres from Pirelli.

A number of familiar faces are back and more determined than ever – not least Sweden’s Dennis Rådström who was last year’s runner-up with two victories to his name.

Estonia’s Ken Torn proved he has the speed to win and will be looking for more of the same, as will Germany’s Julius Tannert who puts his experience to good use in pursuit of a return to the top-step of the podium.

Italy’s Enrico Oldrati and the UK’s Tom Williams are keen to show their progress over the past 12 months, and Romania’s Raul Badiu is returning for a full season having enjoyed his taster at last year’s Rally Turkey.

The 2018 FIA European Under 27 Junior Champion and Vice Champion are stepping up to the world stage – Latvia’s Mārtiņš Sesks and Sweden’s Tom Kristensson both signed up for the year.

Jan Solans – younger brother of 2017 Champion Nil Solans – is confirmed having secured six wins out of six on his way to the Junior R2 Championship title in Spain.

Estonia’s Roland Poom joins the ranks having finished second only to Torn in last year’s Estonian Junior Championship, and Nico Knacker makes his WRC debut after competiting in his native Germany.

Two competitors from outside Europe are also signed up – Fabrizzio Zaldivar from Paraguay and Sean Johnston from the United States. Zaldivar will be making his debut outside South America next month, whereas Johnston started his career in Europe last year.

The championship is still taking entries for the following rounds in Corsica, Italy, Finland and Wales and all those interested are encouraged to contact Michał Moździerz (mmozdzierz@m-sport.co.uk).

FIA Junior WRC Championship Manager, Maciej Woda, said:

“It’s fantastic to see such a strong entry for this year’s FIA Junior WRC Championship and I can’t wait to see what this year’s crop of talented young drivers are capable of.

“With 13 crews from 10 different countries and three different continents, the championship has retained its global appeal and we have more national and European champions within our ranks than ever before!

“I’m extremely proud of the all-new EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta R2 that we launched at the end of last year, and I’m thrilled to have 13 of these fantastic new cars lined up on the start line in Sweden.

“These young guys are going to have a lot of fun behind the wheel of this car, and the prize is bigger than ever – ownership of one of the very first Ford Fiesta R5s which is due to launch in the summer as well as a generous tyre package from Pirelli.

“We’re in for another thrilling season and I can’t wait for the action to get underway. I expect the competition to be more competitive and more exciting than ever, and there’s still time for further drivers to get involved so I’d encourage any interested parties to get in touch without delay!”

FIA Junior WRC Championship entries:

Raul Badiu (ROU) Sean Johnston (USA) Nico Knacker (GER) Tom Kristensson (SWE) Enrico Oldrati (ITA) Roland Poom (EST) Dennis Rådström (SWE) Mārtiņš Sesks (LAT) Jan Solans (ESP) Julius Tannert (GER) Ken Torn (EST) Tom Williams (GBR) Fabrizzio Zaldivar (PAR)

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team will field a two-car team in the FIA World Rally Championship’s all-new WRC 2 Pro series this year, with a pair of EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta R5s for Gus Greensmith and Lukasz Pieniazek.

M-Sport and Ford are known for fostering young talent, and this new series allows the team to further advance the careers of two exciting young drivers – Greensmith and Pieniazek each contesting 10 events with the Fiesta R5; while Greensmith also takes to the wheel of the Ford Fiesta WRC at Rally de Portugal with the possibility for further outings throughout the year.

Greensmith is one of the United Kingdom’s most promising up-and-coming talents and made a name for himself whilst progressing through Ford’s Ladder of Opportunity.

Having made his mark in two-wheel-drive Fiestas, Greensmith stepped up to the Fiesta R5 and was quick to develop rally-winning pace – securing four WRC 2 podiums last year and holding a commanding lead at Rally de Portugal before being forced to retire.

The ambitious Brit is keen to secure his maiden victory this year and aims to demonstrate his potential when taking to the wheel of the top-specification Fiesta in Portugal – going head-to-head with the world’s best drivers and scoring points for the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team.

Greensmith will be joined by new co-driver Elliott Edmondson this year – a young Brit who he sat alongside in 2015 and who also has experience of the top-specification Fiesta having co-driven for Elfyn Evans on test last year.

Piloting M-Sport’s second Fiesta R5 in the WRC 2 Pro Championship, Pieniazek is keen to expand his skillset and further the career which started in his native Poland back in 2014.

Securing a number of class victories on his way from grassroots to international rallying, Pieniazek spent two years in the FIA European Rally Championship and finished third in the ERC Junior category before progressing to the world stage.

Spending the last two seasons contesting a full campaign in the FIA World Rally Championship’s premier support series, the Pole secured his maiden WRC 2 podium with second place at last year’s Rally de Portugal.

Pieniazek is ready to take the next step in his career and will use M-Sport’s knowledge and experience to his advantage.

Greensmith will start his 2019 campaign at Rallye Monte-Carlo; Pieniazek will make his debut with the Cumbrian squad on the snow-covered stages of Rally Sweden.

Gus Greensmith said:

“I’m really proud to be driving for M-Sport Ford in WRC 2 Pro, and even prouder to be making my WRC debut in the team’s third Ford Fiesta WRC at Rallye de Portugal. M-Sport Ford is made up of highly motivated individuals and it’s a privilege to learn and work alongside them.

“I’ve been a part of the M-Sport family for a while now, and you can feel the direction and motivation of the team. It’s where I wanted to be and where I’ll have the best opportunity with the best programme to progress as a driver in 2019.

“I’m also pleased to have Elliott [Edmondson] alongside me this year, and believe it could be a successful long-term partnership between us.

“I came close to a maiden WRC 2 win a couple of times last year, and that’s something I am not willing to let pass me by in 2019; and with a new Fiesta R5 on the way this summer, I’m sure we’ll have a fantastic package to deliver the results we’re all aiming for.

“But the highlight of my year will undoubtedly be Rally de Portugal, and it’s a dream come true to be making my WRC debut. I am very grateful to M-Sport for giving me this opportunity, and to my family who have supported me from the very beginning so that one day I would be able show my potential on the world stage.”

Lukasz Pieniazek said:

"This is another step forward in my rally career and I am excited to join the M-Sport family. Thanks to their knowledge and great experience, I believe I will be able to reach the next level as a rally driver. We have a great programme in our calendar and I can’t wait to kick off the season.”

Team Principal, Richard Millener, said:

“We’re really excited by the new WRC 2 Pro Championship and keen to see what both Gus and Lukasz can do as they progress the next phase of their respective careers.

“Gus has been with us for a number of years and during that time we’ve seen him develop rally-winning pace alongside a more consistent performance. He was rewarded with four podiums last year and came close to securing a maiden win on more than one occasion – something I don’t think is too far away.

“It will also be really interesting to see what he can do when he gets behind the wheel of the Fiesta WRC in Portugal. He tested the car at the end of last year and we’re proud to give another young driver this opportunity at the very highest level.

“Lukasz is working with us for the first time this year but we’re aware of his performances – following his progress as we do with all young drivers who show promise coming through the ranks.

“With two years in WRC 2 already under his belt, he’s ready to take the next step and is determined to learn as much as he can to improve both on and off the stage.

“There’s a lot of experience at M-Sport and we’re keen to share that with Lukasz as he develops his skills as part of the M-Sport family.”

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team has revealed a striking new livery ahead of the 2019 FIA World Rally Championship. The eye-catching EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta WRC will be entrusted to Elfyn Evans and Teemu Suninen throughout the 14-round season and displayed at Autosport International over the next four days.

The livery reflects the fact that 2019 will be an important year for M-Sport as a business. The automotive industry standard M-Sport Evaluation Centre is due to launch later this year and the silhouette of the state-of-the-art test track is vividly incorporated in the design.

The photogenic nitrous blue colour scheme last used in 2016 returns to the palette and the team’s valued partners are well represented.

Ford Motor Company’s long-standing financial and technical support is highlighted with the signature Blue Oval on the bonnet and side panels, while the ‘Powered by EcoBoost’ global trademark remains proudly displayed on the tailgate and rear wing.

MS-RT branding remains – promoting the company’s bespoke range of road-going vehicles that draw inspiration from M-Sport’s award-winning competition cars.

Established partners Castrol and Michelin also retain a strong presence, as do the team’s valued trade partners – all of whose commitment has been integral to the Cumbrian squad’s continued presence in the FIA World Rally Championship.

Managing Director, Malcolm Wilson OBE, said:

“Next year is going to be an important year for M-Sport, and that is reflected in this new livery. We have a number of new projects coming up, including the launch of our Evaluation Centre and it’s fantastic to see the test track proudly displayed on our Ford Fiesta WRCs – two projects I’m immensely proud of merged together in this eye-catching new design.

“Support from our friends and colleagues at Ford, MS-RT, Castrol and Michelin is well represented as well as our valued trade partners – and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them all as we simply wouldn’t have been able to continue in the FIA World Rally Championship without their support.”

Following detailed negotiations with team partners, M-Sport and Ford are pleased to announce their intention to register for the 2019 FIA World Rally Championship with a multi-car entry for the EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta WRC.

Elfyn Evans returns to the squad for a fifth season at the highest level and will be joined by proud Cumbrian co-driver Scott Martin who reconnects with the team that started his international career back in 2004.

Teemu Suninen also returns to the team for a third season and will contest all events with a top-specification world rally car for the first time in his career. The young Finn will also be joined by a new co-driver in the form of fellow Finn Marko Salminen.

The team will be supported at Rallye Monte-Carlo and Rally Sweden with a third manufacturer entry for Pontus Tidemand. The Swede has a long history with M-Sport and Ford which started with victory in the 2013 FIA WRC Academy – one year after new team mate Evans.

Tidemand took to the wheel of a top-specification Fiesta and fought for a podium position at Rally Sweden in 2014, but this will be his first time behind the wheel of a new-generation world rally car to which he brings undoubted speed and a desire to succeed.

A further change to support the team on a day-to-day basis will see Richard Millener step up to the role of Team Principal – allowing Malcolm Wilson to devote more time to the commercial side of M-Sport as a business.

M-Sport Managing Director, Malcolm Wilson OBE, said:

“It has been a bit of a rollercoaster over the last few weeks – from the elation of winning the FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers and Co-drivers with Sébastien and Julien to their emotional farewell – and we have been working night and day to put together the pieces that go into making a team for 2019.

“As I speak we still don’t have 100 percent of the details in place, but because of the huge amount of development work that has been going on behind the scenes; I felt that we had to make a commitment to see the hard work out on the stages. Working in collaboration with our partners in Europe and the US, every element has been reviewed and updated.

“The continued financial and technical collaboration with Ford has been pivotal in pushing us forward, and together we are working on a new and improved ‘ladder of opportunity,’ which began with the recently launched Ford Fiesta R2 earlier this month. We have always said that WRC is our shop window, and the development work we do at the highest level filters down to improve every step of the ladder.

“Next year is going to be a very important year for M-Sport. We have a number of new projects coming up including the launch of our Evaluation Centre at Dovenby Hall. We will continue to spread the net and work with existing partners – safeguarding the roles we have and taking advantage of any new opportunities that arise.

“We rely on the support of the whole WRC community to piece together the missing pieces, but we are confident we have the tools to do a good job and so we are making the decision to push forward and work through the challenges as they arrive!”

M-Sport Poland are proud to introduce the all-new EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta R2 – the first car designed to the FIA’s latest R2 regulations, and the first car to be fully designed and developed at the team’s state-of-the-art facilities in Krakow.

Based on the road-going Ford Fiesta ST-Line which is manufactured at Ford’s Cologne facility, M-Sport Poland has worked in conjunction with the Ford Motor Company who provided significant financial backing for the programme.

The development of the latest edition of the Fiesta R2 extends the partnership of both companies in maintaining an effective ‘Ladder of Opportunity’ and the new R2 retains a strong pedigree – sharing its platform with one of the world’s best-selling small cars.

As one of the first rungs on the Ladder, the Fiesta R2 has spent the past 10 years launching the careers of some of rallying’s most popular names – Ott Tänak, Elfyn Evans, Craig Breen and Pontus Tidemand all spending time and honing their skills behind the wheel of the little Fiesta.

Despite a complete redesign, the all-new Fiesta maintains the same philosophy and will form the basis for next year’s FIA Junior WRC Championship – continuing M-Sport and Ford’s commitment to supporting the sport’s future stars.

Designed from a completely clean sheet of paper, the new Fiesta R2 shares little with its predecessor and the team were inspired by the championship-winning Ford Fiesta WRC and its design.

Engine performance has been significantly improved, as have the transmission and suspension. In fact every element has been rethought and improved to produce a car that performs to M-Sport Poland’s exacting standards.

The turbo charged 999cc Ford EcoBoost engine delivers 200 HP at 6,500 RPM and the new Sadev five-speed sequential gearbox can be adjusted across three different ramps.

The new suspension includes Reiger dampers which are three-way adjustable on the front and two-way adjustable on the rear. Eibach springs compliment with the option of hard or soft, and there is also an optional anti-roll bar to further enhance the set-up options.

Further information can be found in the Technical Specification, and orders can be placed as of today with delivery estimates dependant on deposits received.

All those interested in sales advice should contact kkozdron@m-sport.co.uk, and all media enquiries should be directed below as usual.

Maciej Woda, Board Member M-Sport Poland, said:

“The all-new Ford Fiesta R2 is a massive step forward and something everyone at M-Sport Poland is extremely proud of. It’s the first car to be fully designed and developed here in Krakow, and a tremendous amount of effort, passion and enthusiasm has gone into making this project as successful as possible.

“Sharing information with the engineers and designers back in Cumbria, we’ve been inspired by the success of the championship-winning Ford Fiesta WRC and every component has been designed to make this new car as strong and as innovative as possible within the regulations.

“But the main philosophy of the Fiesta R2 remains – giving the stars of the future the perfect platform with which to hone their skills and show what they can do in the early stages of their careers. The all-new Fiesta will therefore form the basis of next year’s FIA Junior WRC Championship, and I’m looking forward to seeing what the next generation can do behind the wheel.”

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia secured their sixth FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers and Co-drivers this weekend – coming out on top after a dramatic final-day showdown at Kennards Hire Rally Australia.

This year’s Championship has been the most exciting in years, but Ogier, Ingrassia and M-Sport Ford produced something special once again – speed, determination and outstanding team spirit all contributing to another very successful year for the Cumbrian squad.

Team Principal, Malcolm Wilson OBE, said:

“It’s been an emotional day and I can tell you that this championship really does mean a lot. Two months ago it wasn’t looking good, but when you have Sébastien and Julien in your team you know that anything is possible.

“The way they fought back over the last three events was incredible and I am so proud of all we have achieved together. We will certainly miss them next year, but this was a proper team effort and I have to say that every single member of the team played their part in the result.

“I would also like to congratulate Ott and Thierry on such a fantastic championship battle over the course of the season. We know first-hand how competitive they are and it really was a pleasure to watch the world’s three best driver do battle right down to the wire.

“The sport is in fantastic shape at the moment, and I think everyone involved should be proud.”

Global Director of Ford Performance Motorsport, Mark Rushbrook, said:

“Huge congratulations to Sébastien and Julien on winning a remarkable sixth FIA World Rally Championship title – they’re second in the fantastic Ford Fiesta WRC. This achievement was the result of a great team effort throughout the whole season and everyone at both M-Sport and Ford should be immensely proud.”

OGIER AND INGRASSIA: FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONS

Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia headed into the final day of competition knowing that six was the magic number – a sixth place finish all they needed to claim a sixth successive FIA World Rally Championship.

Doing what they needed to do in a sensational fight that went down to the wire, the pressure was on Ogier’s rivals and, one by one, Thierry Neuville and Ott Tänak hit trouble – each caught out whilst refusing to give up the fight and pushing admirably through the treacherous conditions.

That meant only one thing, Ogier and Ingrassia had done it – defending the crown they secured with the Ford Fiesta WRC 12 months previous. The result was the perfect way for the team to say farewell to their champions after two very special years together.

Stage performances:

SS19: 6th (+14.3)

SS20: 7th (+5.9)

SS21: 7th (+4.0)

S22: 9th (+17.8)

SS23: 6th (+31.4)

SS24: 1st

Sébastien Ogier said:

“It’s been an incredible season and the fight has been so close. Not so long ago we thought it was going to be difficult to take the title again, but we never gave up. We gave it everything and had such an amazing team around us. I am so proud of all of them and of course I want to thank Malcolm for another amazing job. What we achieved together over the past two years has been really special, and I am very proud of that.”

Julien Ingrassia said:

“We had a beautiful journey with M-Sport over these two years, and everything we achieved we achieved together. We wanted to end our time with Malcolm and the team in a special way, and that is what we did. There have been a lot of ups and downs during the season and the rally, and we gave it everything to achieve this amazing result. Hopefully I have a little energy left to celebrate with the team tonight!”

EVANS AND BARRITT: SIXTH AT RALLY AUSTRALIA

Elfyn Evans and Daniel Barritt have been rightly heralded ‘team mates of the year’ – playing a significant role as Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia defended their FIA World Rally Championships today.

The Brits played their part selflessly this weekend – handed the Frenchmen a more advantageous road position at detriment to themselves, and showing good speed despite the looser conditions they had to contend with as a result.

When road cleaning wasn’t a contributing factor, Evans showed his pace and set a string of top times through the super special stages.

It’s not been the season the Welshman had hoped for, but he has shown his speed and played his role admirably – helping the team defend two of their FIA World Rally Championships.

Stage performances:

SS19: 7th (+18.0)

SS20: 5th (+3.7)

SS21: 8th (+4.2)

SS22: 8th (+17.2)

SS23: 8th (+41.8)

SS24: 4th (+3.0)

Elfyn Evans said:

“Congratulations to Seb, Julien and the whole team. I’m glad they were able to secure this one and – even though it wasn’t always easy – I’m glad we were able to help them where we could. Obviously for various reasons our season didn’t go the way we wanted it to, but the speed was there and hopefully we’ll have a chance to prove that again next year.”

SUNINEN AND MARKKULA: DNF AT RALLY AUSTRALIA

Teemu Suninen and Mikko Markkula may have been experiencing the unique nature of the Australia stages for the first time this weekend, but that didn’t stop them showcasing their speed and team spirit – missing out on a stage win by just 0.1 seconds on Friday before playing the team game to give Ogier a more advantageous road position.

The young Finn continued to gain vital knowledge and experience in a variety of different conditions over the weekend’s competition, but was forced to retire with impact damage after the penultimate speed test.

Stage performances:

SS19: 11th (+26.2)

SS20: 10th (+25.7)

SS21: 9th (+7.0)

SS22: 5th (+6.4)

SS23: 5th (+30.7)

SS24: DNS

Teemu Suninen said:

“It was a shame not to have finished this rally, but I am really happy for the team and for Seb and Julien who really deserved this Championship. Everyone has worked really hard and it’s nice to see this result for everyone.

“For me, I think I showed some good improvement this weekend and was able to set some good times on Friday. On the weekend I learnt a lot about how to drive in the loose gravel, and I’m looking forward to next year when I can build on everything I learnt this season.”

OVERALL CLASSIFICATION

1. Jari-Matti Latvala / Miikka Anttila (Toyota Yaris WRC) 2:59:52.0

2. Hayden Paddon / Sebastian Marshall (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +32.5

3. Mads Østberg / Torstein Eriksen (Citroen C3 WRC) +52.2

4. Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm (Toyota Yaris WRC) +1:02.3

5. Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia (Ford Fiesta WRC) +2:30.8

6. Elfyn Evans / Daniel Barritt (Ford Fiesta WRC) +3:05.1

7. Craig Breen / Scott Martin (Citroen C3 WRC) +8:59.0

DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS*

1. Sébastien Ogier - 219

2. Thierry Neuville - 201

3. Ott Tänak - 181

4. Jari-Matti Latvala - 128

5. Esapekka Lappi - 126

6. Andreas Mikkelsen - 84

7. Elfyn Evans - 80

8. Hayden Paddon - 73

9. Dani Sordo - 71

10. Mads Østberg - 70

…

12. Teemu Suninen - 54

MANUFACTURERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS*

1. Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC - 368

2. Hyundai Motorsport - 341

3. M-Sport Ford World Rally Team - 324

4. Citroen Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team - 237

* Subject to the official publication of the results by the FIA.

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s three EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta WRCs have made it through the second day of competition at Kennards Hire Rally Australia – ready to play their part in an epic title fight that is set to go down to the wire.

The FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers may be all but gone, but a sixth crown for Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia is within sight and the Cumbrian squad will be giving their all to defend their driver and co-driver titles tomorrow.

Six is the magic number, and all Ogier needs to do is remain in sixth place with Thierry Neuville behind in the standings – do that and the crown belongs to Ogier once more; regardless of what fellow rival Ott Tänak can do at the head of the field or what either contender can muster in the Power Stage.

Team Principal, Malcolm Wilson OBE, said:

“We are witnessing a truly golden age of rallying and it is fantastic to watch – albeit pretty nerve-wracking too! Whoever comes out on top tomorrow will be a deserving champion, and everyone in the service park can consider themselves winners for providing such a spectacular show.

“It was a bit of a frustrating day with all three of our drivers clearing the loose gravel, but we saw some good times in the Super Specials and – most importantly – Sébastien and Julien are where they need to be to clinch the title. Anything can happen over the closing stages, but it’s looking good at the moment.”

OGIER AND INGRASSIA: SIXTH AFTER EIGHTEEN STAGES

Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia are doing exactly what they need to do. Having to contend with the worst of the road cleaning this weekend, it hasn’t been possible to fight for the victory –but that is not the main objective. The main objective is the defence of their championship, and they’re on course to achieve that through tomorrow’s closing stages.

Stage performances:

SS9: 8th (+9.1)

SS10: 8th (+21.0)

SS11: 8th (+19.4)

SS12: =4th (+0.4)

SS13: 8th (+6.8)

SS14: 8th (+13.0)

SS15: 9th (+12.2)

SS16: 3rd (+0.8)

SS17: 4th (+2.0)

SS18: 11th (+7.5)

Sébastien Ogier (6th) said:

“The loose gravel has made it a difficult rally for us so far, but it’s been a positive day in terms of the championship and I’m very happy with that.

“First on the road yesterday was really tough. Fifth on the road today was a little bit better, but we still lost a lot of time compared to the guys starting further back.

“It was a bit frustrating sometimes, but the main target is the championship and scoring the points we need. That’s what we’re doing at the moment, but tomorrow’s final kilometres will feel pretty long and we’ll need to be focused.”

EVANS AND BARRITT: SEVENTH AFTER EIGHT STAGES

Elfyn Evans and Daniel Barritt are the team players of the year and continue to aid Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia in their quest for a sixth FIA World Rally Championship title. Handing Ogier a more advantageous road position yesterday evening, Evans continued to push hard through today’s stages – keeping Neuville behind and showing his speed through both passes of Raleigh (SS12 and SS16).

Stage performances:

SS9: 9th (+10.6)

SS10: 10th (+31.3)

SS11: 7th (+14.6)

SS12: =1st

SS13: 10th (+9.1)

SS14: 10th (+23.7)

SS15: 8th (+11.8)

SS16: 2nd (+0.6)

SS17: =6th (+2.4)

SS18: 3rd (+0.9)

Elfyn Evans (7th) said:

“We all knew it would be difficult being early on the road today. The gravel was really loose and you could see how much it was cleaning and how much faster the road was getting with every car. Still, we delivered a clean and tidy drive and it was nice to show some speed through both passes of the Raleigh stage.”

SUNINEN AND MARKKULA: NINTH AFTER EIGHTEEN STAGES

Teemu Suninen and Mikko Markkula are contesting Rally Australia for the first time this weekend and showed their potential with some quick times though yesterday’s stages. But the young Finn couldn’t find the same rhythm today and struggling to harness the same level of performance through the loose gravel. A quick learner, Suninen improved over the second pass and will be keen to further his experience tomorrow.

Stage performances:

SS9: 11th (+18.6)

SS10: 11th (+37.1)

SS11: 10th (+27.1)

SS12: 6th (+0.7)

SS13: 11th (+11.8)

SS14: 11th (+24.3)

SS15: 11th (+23.2)

SS16: 8th (+1.9)

SS17: =6th (+2.4)

SS18: 2nd (+0.3)

Teemu Suninen (9th) said:

“Today has been more difficult for me and I still have a lot to learn about how to drive in this loose gravel. I didn’t have the best rhythm, but we got a bit better in the afternoon and now there is just one more day to go."

OVERALL CLASSIFICATION

1. Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja (Toyota Yaris WRC) 2:07:52.0

2. Jari-Matti Latvala / Miikka Anttila (Toyota Yaris WRC) +21.9

3. Hayden Paddon / Sebastian Marshall (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +26.3

4. Mads Østberg / Torstein Eriksen (Citroen C3 WRC) +46.6

5. Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm (Toyota Yaris WRC) +50.4

6. Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia (Ford Fiesta WRC) +1:44.8

7. Elfyn Evans / Daniel Barritt (Ford Fiesta WRC) +2:04.6

8. Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +2:35.2

9. Teemu Suninen / Mikko Markkula (Ford Fiesta WRC) +2:49.0

10. Craig Breen / Scott Martin (Citroen C3 WRC) +6:26.8

Fighting to defend their FIA World Rally Championships, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia have taken the advantage through a thrilling opening day of competition at Kennards Hire Rally Australia.

Going into the final round just three points ahead of Thierry Neuville, Ogier had to keep his rival in sight and was doing just that when Neuville dropped 40 seconds through the second pass of Sherwood (SS6) – giving the M-Sport man the upper hand.

Aided by his two team mates, Ogier gained a further two places when Elfyn Evans and Teemu Suninen strategically dropped behind their comrade, and goes into the second day of competition three places and 33.7 seconds ahead of rival Neuville.

The championship pendulum may be swinging in Ogier’s favour at the moment, but the team knows that this fight is far from over and will continue to push hard through the weekend.

Team Principal, Malcolm Wilson OBE, said:

“It feels strange to say that it’s been a good day when we’re sitting in seventh, eighth and ninth, but we’re in a good position when it comes to the driver and co-driver championships which are our main objectives this weekend.

“Sébastien and Julien had a tough day opening the road, but they didn’t let the frustration distract them from the main objective. They pushed hard, didn’t put a foot wrong, and when Thierry [Neuville] lost time they were able to take the advantage.

“We were then able to strengthen that advantage by strategically moving Elfyn and Teemu behind – which shows just how much of a team sport this can be come the end of the season.

“Both our young drivers have driven well today, and it was great to see their support. We’re all competitors and it’s never easy to concede a position, but everyone has worked together to give Sébastien and Julien the best possible chance going into the weekend.

“A second drivers’ title is the goal, but this fight is far from over and a lot can still happen over the next two days!”

OGIER AND INGRASSIA: SEVENTH AFTER EIGHT STAGES

Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia had their work cut out through the opening day of competition at Rally Australia – leading the championship and therefore tasked with the arduous job of sweeping a clean line through some of the loosest gravel of the year.

But the defending World Champions have been here before and overcame the frustration with a note perfect performance. Pushing hard, the French pairing gave it everything and didn’t put a foot wrong – crucially ending the day ahead of their main championship rival.

Stage performances:

SS1: 8th (+2.6)

SS2: 11th (+10.7)

SS3: 10th (+17.9)

SS4: 4th (+1.0)

SS5: 7th (+1.6)

SS6: 7th (+14.2)

SS7: 1st

SS8: 2nd (+0.2)

Sébastien Ogier (7th) said:

“Every stage has been like a Power Stage for us today. Opening the road is really tough here and we had to push really hard through every stage. It’s always a little frustrating when you’re not in a position to fight for the top results, but that’s the way it is.

“Unlike our rivals, we didn’t make any mistakes and we’re in a good position for the championship which is the main objective this weekend. A big thanks to my team mates also for their help this afternoon which should make our road position better for tomorrow.”

EVANS AND BARRITT: EIGHTH AFTER EIGHT STAGES

Elfyn Evans and Daniel Barritt delivered a solid drive through the first day of competition at Rally Australia. In a tight fight for the top positions, the Brits were rarely more than a handful of seconds adrift of the fastest stage times, and ended the penultimate gravel stage less than 20 seconds adrift of the lead.

Heading into the final loose-surface test of the day, Evans and Barritt proved once again why they should be dubbed team mates of the year – dropping behind Ogier and Ingrassia to give the Frenchmen the best possible road position as the title fight continues into the weekend.

Stage performances:

SS1: 7th (+2.5)

SS2: 8th (+4.3)

SS3: 7th (+11.6)

SS4: 10th (+2.8)

SS5: 9th (+3.6)

SS6: 8th (+26.9)

SS7: 4th (+1.9)

SS8: 6th (+1.6)

Elfyn Evans (8th) said:

“We focused on delivering a clean and tidy drive through today’s stages. The competition was really close and I think we did a pretty good job – not far from the lead before the last gravel stage of the day.

“But this is a team sport as well as an individual one and we had to play our part to give Seb the best possible position going into the weekend. We’re all competitors and we all want to compete, but we’re also here to do a job for the team and we have to respect that.”

SUNINEN AND MARKKULA: NINTH AFTER EIGHT STAGES

Teemu Suninen and Mikko Markkula have quickly got to grips with Rally Australia. Contesting the event for the first time this weekend, the pairing are under strict instruction to learn the stages and gain as much experience as possible, but that didn’t stop them showcasing their speed.

Building his knowledge and confidence with every kilometre, Suninen continues to prove his potential and set the second fastest time through the second pass of Coldwater (SS5) – just 0.1 seconds adrift of the stage win.

The young Finn was also the second fastest man through the following speed test (SS6) – continuing to demonstrate his speed before playing the team game and slowing to fall behind Ogier in the overall standings.

Stage performances:

SS1: 10th (+2.8)

SS2: 6th (+2.2)

SS3: 8th (+12.2)

SS4: 8th (+2.0)

SS5: 2nd (+0.1)

SS6: 9th (+32.2)

SS7: 8th (+3.1)

SS8: 10th (+2.6)

Teemu Suninen (9th) said:

“I think we’ve had a good day. The pace has been good and we were able to improve a lot over the second pass – just 0.1 seconds away from a stage win on the middle one this afternoon [SS5]. On the next stage we had to give the position to Seb, but that’s part of the game – he’s fighting for the championship and we need to play our part to help him.”

OVERALL CLASSIFICATION

1. Mads Østberg / Torstein Eriksen (Citroen C3 WRC) 53:37.4

2. Craig Breen / Scott Martin (Citroen C3 WRC) +6.8

3. Jari-Matti Latvala / Miikka Anttila (Toyota Yaris WRC) +8.7

4. Hayden Paddon / Sebastian Marshall (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +12.5

5. Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja (Toyota Yaris WRC) +16.9

6. Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm (Toyota Yaris WRC) +28.3

7. Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia (Ford Fiesta WRC) +38.2

8. Elfyn Evans / Daniel Barritt (Ford Fiesta WRC) +45.2

9. Teemu Suninen / Mikko Markkula (Ford Fiesta WRC) +47.2

10. Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +1:11.9

The FIA World Rally Championships are all to play for and M-Sport Ford World Rally Team will fight to defend their crowns at next week’s season finale – Kennards Hire Rally Australia.

Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia are in prime position and hold a three-point advantage going into the title decider. The team also have a mathematical chance of defending their manufacturers’ title – albeit somewhat more challenging with a 25-point deficit overcome.

The EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta WRCs are ready for the battles ahead, and the stage is set for a thrilling final showdown.

Team Principal, Malcolm Wilson OBE, said:

“I can’t remember the last time we went into the final round with the championship as close as it is at the moment. This is rallying at its best and I’m excited to see how the action unfolds.

“Sébastien and Julien are in prime position – leading the standings by a slender three points but leading the standings nonetheless.

“They know how to win championships and they know what it takes to win in Australia. The whole team are behind them, and we are determined to see them end their time with us in the best possible way.

“We also have a mathematical chance in the manufacturers’ championship. It’s a harder task for sure, but anything is possible and Elfyn and Teemu are both keen to play their part and deliver another strong result.

“I don’t think we’ve seen the end of the drama just yet, and rally fans are surely in for a treat whatever the outcome next week.”

RALLY AUSTRALIA: THE GRAND FINALE

The stage is set and Rally Australia is ready to host the 2018 FIA World Rally Championship title decider. Nestled on the Gold Coast between Brisbane and Sydney, the coastal town of Coffs Harbour will provide a stunning backdrop for the most exciting finale in years!

Dusty tracks are the order of the rally and the region’s shire roads are combined with those in the surrounding rainforest and bush. There are a number of new stages this year, but the route continues to offer a variety with a mix of tight, twisty sections and those more fast and flowing.

When dry, the loose terrain presents some of the worst road cleaning of the year; and when wet, it becomes treacherously slippery.

The three championship rivals will be watching the skies with intent over the next few days, but there is more than just the weather to contend with – many stages are lined by trees mere millimetres from the road and visibility can often be a challenge as the low sun creates a strobe effect through the trees.

Needless to say, the eventual winner – and the eventual World Champion – will have faced the challenge head-on and come out on top as the best the rallying world has to offer!

SÉBASTIEN OGIER AND JULIEN INGRASSIA

Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia are on the verge of securing a sixth FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers and Co-Drivers – heading into the final round with a slender three-point lead at the head of the standings.

Opening the road on Australia’s loose gravel is notoriously difficult, but they remain in prime position – leading the championship and thus putting the burden firmly on the shoulders of their rivals.

Having won Rally Australia on three previous occasions, Ogier and Ingrassia know what it takes to tame the unique terrain and another win will see them retain their crown – regardless of what their opponents achieve in the rally or the Power Stage!

Previous starts: 7

Best result: 1st (2013, 2014 and 2015)

Sébastien Ogier said:

“The Championship could not be closer and we head to the final round in Australia with a slender three-point lead at the head of the standings. It’s a very positive place to be compared to where we were when we were 23 points behind two rallies ago, and the pressure is now on our rivals to overhaul the deficit.

“Of course we’re aware that opening the road will not be an easy task, but anything can happen and we are ready for the challenge. We’ve enjoyed a lot of success in Australia over the years and our goal is to add to that success next week.

“We’re ready to do our best, ready to push for a sixth world title, and hopeful of ending what has been an enjoyable and rewarding two years with Malcolm and his team in the best possible way.”

ELFYN EVANS AND DANIEL BARRITT

Elfyn Evans and Daniel Barritt will be looking to end their season on another high next week – aiming to fight for the top positions and secure their best result at Rally Australia.

The British pairing have endured a tough season with their fair share of bad luck, but are determined to close the year on a positive and help the team secure the best possible result.

Previous starts: 3

Best result: 5th (2017)

Elfyn Evans said:

“I’ve always enjoyed Rally Australia and we’ll be aiming to bring our season to a close with another strong result next week. Following our podium in Spain, it would be great to end the year with another personal best in Australia.

“There’s a friendly and relaxed atmosphere at this event and we’re made to feel welcome from the second we arrive in Coffs Harbour. But the event itself is a real challenge; and totally different from anything else we encounter throughout the year.

“Visibility is often an issue and you have to have complete trust in your notes. Hanging dust isn’t uncommon and when the sun is low it can create a strobe effect through the trees which makes it difficult to read the road. The trees themselves also cast unfamiliar shadows and you really do need to be fully focused and concentrated throughout the weekend.

“I can’t remember a more exciting time in the sport and I think everyone is excited to see what happens next week – ourselves included. We’re ready to give our best and will work hard to deliver the best possible result for the team.”

TEEMU SUNINEN AND MIKKO MARKKULA

Teemu Suninen and Mikko Markkula will make their Rally Australia debut next week, and the Finnish pairing will need to be fully focused from the word go if they are to compete on the same level as their rivals.

Despite his inexperience, Suninen should never be discounted and the young Finn will be determined to end his season with a positive result for both himself and the team.

Teemu Suninen said:

"This will be my first time competing at Rally Australia, but my preparation is the same and I’ve been watching the videos to make sure we’re as prepared as we can be. I did the recce in 2016 but don’t have all the notes for this year’s stages. We’ll need to be concentrated on the recce to be ready to compete on the same level as everyone else.

“As the last round of the season and with the championships being so close, this is also going to be a really interesting and exciting rally. Seb is still in with a strong chance of taking his sixth world title, and the team also have a chance in the manufacturers’ championship. I am ready to give everything in order to be a part of those fights and to end my season on a high."

Following the success of the 2018 FIA Junior WRC Championship, the calendar for 2019 will continue to challenge the world’s most promising young drivers on a variety of surfaces – the stages of Sweden, Corsica, Sardinia, Finland and Wales all testing the stars of the future.

Like this year, the five-round season will get underway on the ice and snow of Rally Sweden before the crews are put through their paces on asphalt – endurance being the name of the game at the legendary Tour de Corse.

Gravel plays a key role at rallying’s highest level, and three loose-surface events will close the season and decide who claims one of the biggest prizes in motorsport – a brand-new Ford Fiesta R5 complete with a generous support package to contest the 2020 WRC 2 Championship.

Rally Italia Sardegna kicks off the gravel action in June, followed by the famous jumps of Rally Finland – an event every rally driver wants to win. The grand finale will then be hosted by Wales Rally GB – testing the Junior crews on some of the most changeable grip levels and challenging conditions that the world stage has to offer.

Working alongside the FIA, M-Sport Poland have devised another demanding and varied calendar that puts focus on all of the attributes needed to compete at the very highest level of the sport.

Anyone interested in more information about how to register for next year’s FIA Junior WRC Championship should contact Michał Moździerz at mmozdzierz@m-sport.co.uk

FIA Junior WRC Championship Manager, Maciej Woda, said:

"We’re delighted to announce next year’s calendar which will continue to test the FIA Junior WRC Championship crews in every aspect of the sport. Once again, the championship will be contested over five events, and I’d like to welcome Sardinia and Wales back to the Junior WRC family.

“Snow, asphalt, gravel, sprint stages, endurance stages, freezing temperatures, sweltering temperatures, you name it, next year’s season has it, and I’m sure we’ll see another very worthy champion at the end of the year.”

2019 FIA Junior WRC Championship Calendar*

Rally Sweden (14-17 February) Tour de Corse - Rallye de France (28-31 March) Rally Italia Sardegna (13-16 June) Rally Finland (1-4 August) Wales Rally GB (3-6 October)

*Calendar subject to final approval by the FIA.

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta WRC secured a double podium at this weekend’s RallyRACC Catalunya – Rally de España; Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia missing out on victory by a mere 2.9 seconds while Elfyn Evans and Daniel Barritt secured third place by a tantalising 0.5 seconds.

The result also sees five-time World Champions Ogier and Ingrassia retake the lead of the FIA World Rally Championship for both Drivers and Co-Drivers, and the team will focus on giving the French pairing everything they need to maintain their slender three point advantage at the final round in Australia.

Team Principal, Malcolm Wilson OBE, said:

“It’s been a great weekend for the team with another double podium for the Fiesta and Sébastien and Julien retaking the lead of the championship. This one really is going down to the wire, and we’re going to see a thrilling finale in Australia. We’re enjoying a fantastic era in the sport and the true winners are the fans!

“The conditions were really challenging, but Sébastien and Julien held their own – overcoming the disadvantage of their road position on gravel and pushing to the maximum when the action turned to Tarmac. We didn’t get the tyre choices 100 percent right this weekend, but they pushed hard regardless and were rewarded with another great result.

“Elfyn too delivered a really strong performance. He and Dan were competitive on all surfaces and were challenging right at the sharp end – taking a well-deserved podium at the end of the rally which was just what he and the team needed.

“It proved a trickier event for Teemu, but we know how long it takes to get these youngsters to get to the highest level. He learned a lot, experienced a lot of varying conditions, and showed a vast improvement throughout the weekend which – as is always the case with Teemu – bodes well for the future.”

OGIER AND INGRASSIA

Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia have retaken the lead of the FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers and Co-drivers, thanks to a fine second place finish at this weekend’s RallyRACC Catalunya – Rally de España.

The French pairing were fighting for their fifth win of the year and delivered a confident and determined drive through the closing stages – missing out on victory by the smallest of margins as their old adversary Sébastien Loeb took advantage of a risky but inspired tyre choice through the morning loop.

Heading into the second loop of stages, Ogier and Ingrassia had fallen more than 10 seconds adrift of the lead, but they weren’t going to give up the fight. A big push through the closing two speed tests saw the pairing reduce the deficit to just 2.9 seconds.

It wasn’t enough to topple Loeb, but it was enough to take the lead of the championship going into a thrilling final round in Australia.

Stage performances:

SS15: 4th (+6.6)

SS16: 6th (+7.5)

SS17: 1st

SS18: 2nd (2.0)

Sébastien Ogier (2nd) said:

“It’s been an eventful weekend but we’re feeling good at the end of it. We knew that it would be difficult starting second on the road and the wet conditions made it really challenging as well. But we never gave up and gave it everything we had. You’re always a little frustrated when you miss the victory by such a small margin, but we tried everything we could and it’s still been a positive weekend as we regained the lead of the championship. Starting first on the road in Australia will be difficult, but I prefer to have the points in hand. It will be a tough rally and we will have to give it everything we have if we want to regain the title.”

EVANS AND BARRITT

Elfyn Evans and Daniel Barritt were determined to bring home the silverware this weekend and did so by securing their second podium of the year at RallyRACC Catalunya – Rally de España.

The British pairing were fighting at the sharp end on both gravel and asphalt and were part of an intense six-way battle for the win going into the final day of competition.

Embarking on the final four stages, Evans and Barritt were just 1.8 seconds adrift of the podium, and proved themselves great team players once again – taking the final podium place from Ogier’s main championship rival by just 0.5 seconds through the Power Stage!

Stage performances:

SS15: 6th (+8.5)

SS16: 7th (+9.5)

SS17: 2nd (+3.5)

SS18: 4th (+3.1)

Elfyn Evans (3rd) said:

“We came here to secure a good result and that’s what we got. The speed has been up there for the past few rallies now, but for various reasons we’ve come away empty handed. It’s good to finally see that speed rewarded and to show that we had the pace on both surfaces here in Spain.”

SUNINEN AND MARKKULA

Teemu Suninen and Mikko Markkula may have struggled to match the pace at the head of the field this weekend, but the young Finn shouldn’t be disheartened on what was his first experience of this event with a world rally car.

Having to adapt to conditions he’s never experienced at this level, Suninen showcased his determination and readiness to learn with a vast improvement over the course of the weekend – especially on the circuit-like asphalt that defines this popular event.

The highlight came with a third fastest time when the conditions played to his advantage through the second pass of El Montmell (SS13), and Suninen gained vital knowledge and experience for the future with a better understanding of the varying conditions on offer at Rally de España.

Stage performances:

SS15: 11th (+18.9)

SS16: 8th (+10.5)

SS17: 10th (+18.9)

SS18: 7th (+7.1)

Teemu Suninen (11th) said:

“It was a tough weekend for us but I learnt a lot about how to drive this car in these conditions –especially the wet Tarmac where I have no experience with a world rally car. We learned a lot and it was good to see the times improve. In the dry I think our times were at a pretty okay level, but I know I still have things to learn to improve my driving technique.”

OVERALL CLASSIFICATION

1. Sébastien Loeb / Daniel Elena (Citroen C3 WRC) 3:12:08.0

2. Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia (Ford Fiesta WRC) +2.9

3. Elfyn Evans / Daniel Barritt (Ford Fiesta WRC) +16.5

4. Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +17.0

5. Dani Sordo / Carlos del Barrio (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +18.6

6. Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja (Toyota Yaris WRC) +1:03.9

7. Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm (Toyota Yaris WRC) +1:16.6

8. Jari-Matti Latvala / Miikka Anttila (Toyota Yaris WRC) +1:26.4

9. Craig Breen / Scott Martin (Citroen C3 WRC) +2:07.0

10. Andreas Mikkelsen / Anders Jaeger (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +2:48.2

11. Teemu Suninen / Mikko Markkula (Ford Fiesta WRC) +3:52.0

DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

1. Sébastien Ogier - 204

2. Thierry Neuville - 201

3. Ott Tänak - 181

4. Esapekka Lappi - 110

5. Jari-Matti Latvala - 102

6. Andreas Mikkelsen - 84

7. Dani Sordo - 71

8. Elfyn Evans - 70

9. Craig Breen - 61

10. Hayden Paddon - 55

11. Teemu Suninen - 54

MANUFACTURERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

1. Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC - 331

2. Hyundai Motorsport - 319

3. M-Sport Ford World Rally Team - 306

4. Citroen Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team - 216