The M-Sport Ford World Rally Championship (WRC) team has thus far enjoyed quite a bit of success in the 2024 season, having turned in a number of impressive finishes, including a solid result in Croatia recently, where the Ford Puma Rally1 racer also debuted a brand new rear wing. However, there are many more tweaks in store for the Ford Puma Rally1 racer moving forward, including the forthcoming debut of a new, non-hybrid variant of the race car.
With the WRC set to enact technical regulation changes that include reducing power in Rally1 racers via a revised turbo restricter and limiting aerodynamics for the 2025 season, it was previously expected that the new, non-hybrid Ford Puma Rally1 would debut at that time. However, that’s apparently no longer the case, as the non-electrified racer is now slated to debut at Rally Poland, which is set to take place this coming weekend.
The new non-hybrid Ford Puma Rally1 will make its debut with drivers Mārtiņš Sesks and Renārs Francis in the cockpit, right alongside Adrien Fourmaux and Alex Coria, as well as Grégoire Munster and Louis Louka. Sesks will make history by driving the first non-hybrid Rally1 in the WRC since the introduction of the existing models in 2022, though that vehicle will also be strapped with 100 kilograms of ballast weight to make up for the lack of a hybrid battery and motor. This year marks the first WRC Rally Poland outing since 2017 as well, and kicks off with qualifying runs on Thursday before culminating with the Mikołajki Power Stage on Sunday afternoon.
“I am really looking forward to getting back to Poland, the event is set in a really nice area of the country and has always had a very passionate fan base, who are fantastic to be around,” said M-Sport Team Principal Richard Millener. “The event is very high speed which results in some incredible footage, but will also be a new adventure in some form or another for all our crews so we will just take one day at a time, with the same approach as we have so far this season and be looking for some strong results.”
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