The team principal of M-Sport Ford, Richard Millener, says that his team is optimistic that they can retain Adrien Fourmaux next season and will try to work very hard the next few months to achieve it as his results put him on the target of the other teams.
The Frenchman claimed his maiden podium in World Rally Championship in Sweden last February and since then he has finished at the lowest place of the podium three more times. Earlier this week, it was rumored that Hyundai Motorsport is in discussions with Fourmaux for 2025 as the Koreans may change their third-car policy and are searching for a full-season driver next year as Dani Sordo and Esapekka Lappi do not want to participate in all WRC rounds while Andreas Mikkelsen wants to do a full-season but he has not delivered good results to Hyundai yet. On the other hand, M-Sport Ford gave to Fourmaux a second chance on his WRC career by promoting him as the #1 driver of the team and offering him a full contract after his lack of performance in 2022, but it is clear that the Puma is less competitive than the i20N and the Yaris. In addition to that, the Malcolm Wilson's team is a semi-manufacturer team and does not have enough budget to develop further its car compared to Hyundai and to Toyota which are factory teams. Last but not least, it must be mentioned that Fourmaux is fifth overall on the standings at the end of Rally Finland and is just 13 points behind the fourth Elfyn Evans who is one of the title contenders.
"Adrien’s had a very good season so far and that means other teams will surely be looking at him", Millener answered when he was asked about Fourmaux's future.
"He knows, however, he is the number one driver at M-Sport and he cannot get that anywhere else.
"I remain positive that we will be able keep him with us here at M-Sport.
"There are elements we will need to improve on in order to keep him happy and we need to continue to develop and push our team as hard as possible in order to remain competitive against the others, but everybody is working for Adrien and he knows this.
"He is an incredible talent and he’s made it clear he wants to gain his first win and, in time, his first championship with M-Sport.
"We now have to work very hard over the next few months to ensure that we do everything we can to keep him.
"We have everything we need, we just have to bring it all together.
"There is also a very strong bond and real mutual respect between everybody here at M-Sport and Adrien – this can often mean more than anything else.
"Adrien has a lot of success coming his way and I only want to see that success coming with M-Sport".
Source: DirtFish.com
Photo Credits: M-Sport
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