After delivering a masterclass in surviving the toughest rally of the World Rally Championship, Adrien Fourmaux and Alex Coria claim their second consecutive podium finish with another third overall result on a dramatic Safari Rally Kenya.
The French pairing battled through typically tricky Rally Kenya conditions showing grit, determination and a calculated approach for the duration of the rally. Fourmaux’s intelligent drive, brimmed with mechanical sympathy and a respect for the unbelievably rough stages carried him once again onto the podium in his Ford Puma Rally1.
Still fresh from his maiden podium finish on Rally Sweden last month, Fourmaux started in Kenya with a measured approach, setting a strong pace on Thursday and Friday’s opening stages but focusing heavily on consistency over pure speed. Friday offered up some classic Kenyan conditions: rough, technical and littered with day-ending hazards. But Fourmaux dodged them all, staying out of trouble and delivering the drive that was asked of him to end the day fifth overall.
Saturday brought on the rally’s hardest day, with overnight rain resulting in stages full of deep mud and slippery conditions. Fourmaux would remain tactful, navigating the changing conditions and respecting the limitations of the stages and his Puma Rally1. Keeping a cool head whilst the other crews fell to the wayside, Fourmaux reached the end of the day in third overall, collecting himself 13 provisional points. He would continue this approach into Sunday, driving the six stages carefully to maintain his podium position. Bringing precision and pace into perfect harmony, and enduring nothing more than one puncture throughout the course of his rally, Fourmaux reached the third step of the podium at the end of the power stage to solidify 17 total points and maintain his third overall in the Driver’s championship.
Grégoire Munster made a strong debut on his first Safari Rally in top-level machinery. Taking a similar approach to his teammate, Munster started out at a measured pace in order to maximise his learning and understanding of the unforgiving Kenyan stages. He delivered a mature drive throughout Friday, avoiding mistakes and staying close to Fourmaux in the stage timings. Unfortunately, a small error on Saturday’s opening stage caused damage to his rear suspension. Despite their valiant efforts, Munster and co-driver Louka were unable to repair the car and their day ended there. Back out on Sunday, Munster collected more valuable mileage on the brutal Kenyan stages, and banked valuable experience in the Rally1 on gravel as well as two drivers championship points.
Jourdan Serderidis returned to the team and endured another fantastic adventure, placing ninth overall and claiming another strong finish on Safari Rally Kenya is remarkably impressive having not been in the Puma since Rally Greece last year.
The team now look ahead to the switch back to Tarmac for Rally Croatia in only a few weeks’ time, they will take the confidence from their Safari performances and aim to replicate, or even improve upon these results as the season progresses.
Richard Millener, Team Principal, said:
"This rally is really not easy, it can throw everything at you, and once again it did. However a faultless, mature and incredibly impressive drive from Adrien and Alex sees a second consecutive podium and another demonstration of the level that these two have now reached. For Gregoire it was a weekend of high’s and low’s, but overall I am again very impressed with what he achieved considering his and Louis’ experience here. It was also great to have Jourdan with us to share this result.
"Finally a note to the team who prepared faultless cars and the result is as much down to them as the crews!”
Adrien Fourmaux, Third Overall, said:
“It’s been a fantastic weekend, the team have been doing a really good job the whole time, the car has been really reliable and we had no issues at all with the car. I was really pleased with that, so congratulations to the team, the result belongs to them as well. Ok we have been sensible, but it has been really positive. For us it’s two podiums in two rallies and a really great start to the season, we are still third in the championship so now we need to continue. We have had one podium on snow, one on gravel, so we just need one on Tarmac now!”
Jourdan Serderidis, Ninth Overall, said:
“We have finished 9th overall, so it looks like Kenya suits me quite well! M-Sport has had a very positive event for the whole team across Rally1 and Rally2, it’s been great to be a part of it.”
Grégoire Munster, 15th Overall, said:
“It’s not the result we expected, but I think we were driving carefully with a smart approach, and at the end it could have been a top five finish. Unfortunately on Saturday morning we hit a rock and didn’t manage to repair the car, even though we really gave it our best. A bit disappointing but at least we were able to come back on Sunday to do the kilometres, grab the experience and take a couple of points for the championship. Even though it’s not the result we wanted, I think there’s still some positives to take home and we are already looking forward to Croatia and being back on Tarmac.”
Published 2 April 2024