Fourmaux had been firmly in the fight for the gravel rally win, running right behind his team-mate Ott Tänak. But the Frenchman’s excellent pace came to an abrupt halt on stage eight, when his car suffered damage.
That was the end of the road for Fourmaux, as the suspension on his Hyundai Rally1 car was broken beyond repair.
“We were having a good pace. But then in one corner, there was something that broke the car. It clipped the wheel off,” Fourmaux explained.
“It was not possible for us to fix it. It’s not a part that we can carry in the car. So that was the end of the rally for us.”
At first, Fourmaux didn’t realise the full extent of the damage. But once the reality sank in, it hit hard.
He had to choose his words carefully when asked by RallyJournal.com how he felt after the retirement – earlier this season, he was fined for swearing.
“I cannot say the word, so I need to think of another one…” Fourmaux said after a short pause.
“I said, ‘damn it, it’s over now’. I was like, what happened? At first I thought it was the driveshaft or something like that. But then when I realised that the car was not moving, I was like, it’s something more.”
Fourmaux did, however, receive a little lift from the fans after retiring. A photo widely shared on social media showed him sitting in a camping chair, holding a can of local beer.
“I didn’t fully enjoy it (the beer), but I think the spectators really wanted me to drink it. That was a nice feeling with them. We had a nice show and they were quite excited,” Fourmaux smiled.
“At least it was something that I could share with them. It was not ideal. But at least ‘she’ was really cold.”
