The M-Sport Ford rally team got a bit of a makeover in more ways than one ahead of the 2023 season, debuting a new livery for the Puma Rally1 racer and a revamped driver lineup to boot. After a bit of an up and down season, more changes are on the horizon heading into the upcoming 2024 season as well – most notably, another driver lineup change highlighted by the departure of the highly successful Ott Tänak, along with a brand new livery and some other updates for the M-Sport Puma Rally1 racer to accompany those changes, too. Now, all of these updates will be put to the test as the M-Sport Ford team prepares for the 2024 FIA World Rally Championship season opener at Rally Monte Carlo.
This latest running of Rally Monte Carlo will mark the 92nd time rally cars have tackled what is one of the more challenging courses on the WRC circuit, kicking off in Casino Square before heading to Gap Hautes-Alpes and wrapping up in Monaco a few days later. Aside from picturesque mountain passes, teams will have to deal with a wide variety of weather conditions such as deep snow, all on what is the only mixed-surface setting of the entire season.
Regardless, after completing two days of pre-testing in Monte Carlo last week, the M-Sport Ford team is confident that it can kick off the 2024 WRC season with tremendous success following what was a major retooling effort in the off-season.
“Monte is a notoriously tough event to start the season with, but we feel that both Adrien and Grégoire are prepared for what’s ahead of them,” said M-Sport Ford Team Principal Richard Millener. “The key for both will be to focus on the bigger picture, you need get to the finish of this rally. It is the first in a long season and consistency for us will be key. The new points system also allows us to get points in the bag throughout the weekend and this is what we are aiming for here. “I’m looking forward to seeing what both drivers can achieve, we have less pressure than last year, but nonetheless we’re coming in with a strong aim of performing to the highest level.”
We’ll have more on M-Sport Ford soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for more Ford racing news and comprehensive Ford news coverage.
No Comments yet