Fourmaux is competing on Polish soil for the first time. Among the top-tier drivers, only Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta and the last-minute entrant Kalle Rovanperä share this situation.
Fourmaux’s season has been good compared to initial expectations. The Frenchman has made it to the podium both in Sweden and Kenya.
The previous World Championship round in Sardinia was difficult for Fourmaux. However, the reason was mainly the equipment, so the early-season surprise’s confidence hasn’t taken a hit.
“It will be my first time competing in Poland, but it will be the first fast gravel event of three, so I want to build on this one to improve our pace for the next two,” Fourmaux reflects.
“We plan to get a good result, and to forget what happened in Sardinia. We’ve been working with the team so we can start to meet expectations again and hopefully get back on the podium soon.”
Since Fourmaux has not competed in Poland before, it’s really difficult for him to set a definitive target for the result.
“We’re going to do our best; the only thing I know from this rally is that its quite fast and quite sandy! So there will be a lot of learning, but we can use our experience to support us and see what we can achieve,” Fourmaux notes.
M-Sport’s other driver, Gregoire Munster, has not been able to demonstrate any significant speed in the first half of the season. Unlike Fourmaux, Munster has driven in the Rally Poland twice in the European Championship series.
“I’m looking forward to taking on the next three fast gravel events coming up. We had a good pre-event test in Estonia last week, being able to drive the Puma at such high speeds is just unbelievable. It’s really the best way to experience the car, so I can’t wait to start,” says Munster, who debuted in the top class of the WRC at the end of last season.
“Poland is going to be important because the set-up we establish there is going to be the base for the next two rallies. The surface in Poland can be a bit softer and there can be some rutting, which we didn’t see on the test, so that will be an interesting discovery.”
“I’m happy to be experiencing a new event, this time we will be a bit more on the same level with the other crews in terms of stage knowledge, so it’ll be interesting to see how it turns out!”
Rally Poland starts on Thursday evening with a super special stage. The race will feature a total of 19 special stages, covering approximately 303 kilometres.
