BIG CRASHES TEST M-SPORT’S PATIENCE
M-Sport’s faltering World Rally Championship season reached another low point in Belgium after Craig Breen and Adrien Fourmaux suffered heavy crashes in their Ford Puma Rally1s.
Breen was in fifth when he went off the road for a third rally in succession, ensuring he failed to score big on the three events he had earmarked for strong results.
Fourmaux, who has endured a troubled campaign from the outset, brought more frustration to the Cumbrian team when he crashed out on the penultimate stage.
With the Acropolis Rally starting in the Greek capital Athens on September 8, M-Sport is facing a race against time to repair its two badly damaged Pumas for round 10 of the season when multiple World champion Sebastien Loeb will return to the line-up for what’s being considered a make-or-break event for the British outfit.
Following Breen’s multiple day-two roll, from which he and co-driver Paul Nagle emerged unscathed, M-Sport team boss Richard Millener said: “We need to find a way to get him out of the position he’s in at the moment, it’s not easy for the team, particularly with the tight turn around [of events], it’s not easy for anyone and we need to get out of it.”
Breen told reporters in Ypres: “We’re trying our best but it’s not working.
It’s not where we want to be, but we won’t give up.”
Of Fourmaux’s exit from fifth position, Millener offered little sympathy for the Frenchman, despite him reporting feeling ill on the final morning.
“It was quite clear what the objective was today and that’s not happened,” Millener said.
Brit Gus Greensmith, who completed the M-Sport Puma attack in Ypres, dropped out of contention when he crashed on Friday morning.
Jari Huttunen was fifth in the WRC2 order at the end of leg one but he went no further after an engine issue was detected on his Ford Fiesta Rally2.