M-Sport Ford and WRC Promoter announced that Martins Sesks will make his debut at the top class of World Rally Championship with a non-hybrid Puma Rally1 in Poland.
FIA made some major decisions on February 28 and one of them was to give the opportunity to the drivers to rent a Rally1 car without the hybrid units, but these non-hybrid cars will weigh the same as the regular ones. WRC Promoter in cooperation with M-Sport Ford gave the chance to Sesks to be the first driver who will get behind the wheel of a non-hybrid Rally1 car. The Latvian had competed in total in five events in JWRC from 2020 to 2021, but he mainly had taken part in ERC and in Latvian championship. His first outing at the top level will be Rally Poland in two months, but afterwards he will head to his home event with the hybrid Puma in order to build experience on the fast gravel rallies with one of the best machineries in the world.
"I am sincerely grateful, as it is a dream come true to join forces with the M-Sport World Rally Team and the WRC Promoter for this remarkable opportunity to advance from Rally2 to Rally1 level", Sesks said.
"I must admit, it takes saying it twice to fully believe that we will soon be competing alongside the world's most elite drivers with Rally1 machinery.
"The journey to this point has been a massive effort of many people, particularly my family, whose rallying legacy dates back to my grandfather's inaugural event in Liepaja in 1965.
"Now, 59 years later, I have the opportunity to participate in the same rally but as a WRC event.
"While adapting to Rally1 machinery will undoubtedly demand our unwavering focus and commitment, we are fully prepared to give it our all.
"Being entrusted with piloting the first non-hybrid appearance of the Puma Rally1 makes it more exciting for us to see what the future brings".
On the other hand, Richard Millener said: "I’m very pleased to be working on this project with Mārtiņš and the WRC Promoter, making use of the new regulations for 2024 allowing us to run the Rally1 cars without the hybrid unit.
"Not to mention this being a more cost-effective solution for customer drivers, it allows drivers like Mārtiņš to make the step up to Rally1 more comfortably so that we can widen the Rally1 field.
"Mārtiņš has an impressive resume and is a perfect candidate for debuting this new non-hybrid strategy.
"It was a good opportunity to give him the seat time in Poland before competing with full hybrid on his home event.
"It will be fantastic to see Mārtiņš able to drive the best rally cars in existence in front of his home fans".
Photo Credits: M-Sport
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