M-sport and its new WRC challenger
M-sport has become the first to unveil its new-for-2022 hybrid rally car. And Ford has upped its support for the Puma Rally1 challenger in its bid for glory
This is arguably the most important challenger to ever come off the M-sport production line. There’s a lot riding on the Cumbrian firm’s latest creation, far more to the Ford Puma hybrid Rally1 car than simply a bid to bring the team and manufacturer back to the top of the World Rally Championship. The WRC’S decision to adopt hybrid technology from 2022 has thrown teams a new challenge: to construct all-new, tougher, safer and faster cars, powered by a 1.6-litre internal combustion engine coupled to a Compact Dynamics-built 100kw hybrid system.
Under the new rules, hybrid power is expected to be used in every stage next year, as well as on road sections between tests.
This new era for rallying has arrived to ensure the championship remains relevant and in line with current automotive trends, and provide a platform to attract new manufacturers to the sport.
While the rules are yet to lure a new marque, they have reinvigorated Ford, resulting in it stepping up its support
“WITHOUT FORD, WE WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO DO THIS CAR IN TERMS OF TECH, INTEGRATION, TESTING”
of the M-sport WRC programme through the development of its new hybrid contender. And so, after 18 months of work, the all-new Puma was born.
Such is the importance of these new rules and Ford’s support that M-sport threatened to walk away from the WRC next year if the regulations were pushed back to 2023 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The reason was that Ford’s support is crucial to the operation, as it remains a semi-works squad competing against the might of full factory efforts from Hyundai and Toyota. That’s a battle made tougher in difficult economic times caused by coronavirus and which led to redundancies at M-sport last year.
To further outline the importance of the Puma, Malcolm
Wilson’s WRC powerhouse has openly admitted that its main focus this season is on developing its hybrid challenger for next year’s assault on the championship. “Without the hybrid, we wouldn’t be in a position to be able to go forward,” says M-sport team principal Richard Millener. “That was one of the key criteria for Ford, and I think it’s important for the sport that we move forward. Without them [Ford], quite simply we would not be able to do this car in terms of tech, integration of hybrid, testing of hybrid; it’s impossible without them.”
For M-sport, it could provide a turning point after a slump in results since winning the 2017 manufacturers’ crown and back-toback drivers’ titles in 2017 and 2018 with Sebastien Ogier. The first of those years, of course, was when the WRC ushered in the existing regulations. But since that purple patch it has slipped behind rivals Toyota and Hyundai in the WRC pecking order, its last podium coming in March 2020 when Teemu Suninen finished third in Mexico.
M-sport has produced its fair share of world-beaters, from the
M-sport’s WRC rising star Adrien Fourmaux is one of the lucky few to have sampled the new Ford Puma, and has played a significant role in its development alongside the team’s test driver Matthew Wilson. The pair have been sharing the initial development car through numerous tests, and will continue to do so as the team looks to use its allocated 30 test days before the car’s allimportant debut on next January’s Monte Carlo Rally.
While Fourmaux has limited WRC experience – he has enjoyed a meteoric rise to the sport’s top tier in four years – he says that driving the Puma hybrid is an altogether different challenge compared to his M-sport Fiesta. “The difference is you have an extra boost with the hybrid,” states Fourmaux. “The power with the engine is quite similar to the current car, but the car is heavier because we have the extra batteries and the hybrid system.
“When you have the boost you have a big bit of extra power, it’s really good. We don’t have it constantly, we have to wait and let it regenerate, but it’s a new challenge. You can really feel that you have more power than the current car on the straights, and sometimes you feel it’s less because of the extra weight. There are a lot of different things but it’s still enjoyable to drive.”
Expected to be part of M-sport’s WRC attack next year, Fourmaux believes the new hybrid Rally1 cars will prove to be an exciting prospect, while also motivating teams to strive to master the new regulations.
On the driving front, managing the use of hybrid on every stage through a myriad of software maps and navigating the road sections on battery power alone could become a key part in a successful championship bid. “Next year will be exciting not only for the drivers but the spectators,” he adds. “It will be really interesting and it’s a new challenge for all the teams to understand how it works. It gives good motivation for everyone.”