The team principal of M-Sport, Richard Millener, says that Adrien Fourmaux's crash in Sardinia is different from the crashes he had in 2022 and admits that they still do not know what happened to their driver in the stage that the last one crashed.
The French driver ran wide on a left-hander and clipped some small bushes in Stage 17 of Rally Italia Sardegna which led him to his retirement. His Puma was blocking the road, therefore the stewards decided to red flag the stage while it must be mentioned that his co-driver, Alex Coria, said that Fourmaux lost his concentration.
His crash in Sardinia was not his first one as he previously crashed his Puma in Monte Carlo and in Croatia and, after his two first crashes in 2022, his seat in M-Sport Ford was under threat, because the team could not afford financially to repair his car and wanted a consistent driver who will deliver points for the manufacturers' championship.
Last but not least, it must be mentioned that Fourmaux was fifth overall before the start of Stage 16 in Sardinia while M-Sport Ford decided notto repair his car for Sunday due to financial reasons and due to the fact that they wanted to get in time to send his Puma in Kenya.
"It’s not maybe in terms of some of the other issues and accidents he’s had earlier in the year, I wouldn’t compare this one and say it’s the same", Millener said.
"It’s just frustrating more than anything else because he’s on course as a team for a fantastic result and we’ve now lost one of those cars in those top positions.
"But we’re not the only team to face some difficulties this weekend.
"Now, there was some translation that people were talking about in the car that he lost concentration, so we just have to understand what happened there.
"I don’t know if there was a mistake from one of them through heat during the day; maybe it’s just got to him on this final stage or something.
"But it’s difficult because he had a clear plan of what we wanted and it’s not been achieved.
"It’s hard, when you know you’ve got a lot more there and then maybe he’s wanted to show that he’s felt comfortable – and we said to him, if you feel comfortable and you can go a little bit more, then do it, but you know, still with the mindset of finishing the day.
"But until we really understand why they’ve made the mistake, I wouldn’t really want to cast judgement".
Source: DirtFish.com
Photo Credits: M-Sport
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