Puma Rally1 trio ready to launch in Latvia

After a fantastic result on last month’s Rally Poland, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team gears up to take on a brand-new event in Latvia this week.

Home heroes Mārtiņš Sesks and Renārs Francis join the team again, now benefitting from the full-hybrid system in their Ford Puma Rally1, and will line up alongside Adrien Fourmaux and Alex Coria, and Grégoire Munster and Louis Louka.

After finishing third, fifth and seventh in Poland, Fourmaux, Sesks and Munster now prepare for the next challenge ahead of them. A brand-new event to the FIA World Rally Championship, Rally Latvia, based in the coastal town of Liepaja, forms the eighth round of the 2024 championship season.

An impressive ceremonial start in Riga will kick-off the action on Thursday, followed by a gruelling day on Friday with two tyre-fitting zones and long road sections to bring the cars back to Liepāja for an evening service. With a full day of action on Saturday, the rally will eventually come to an end on the Mazilmāja Power Stage on Sunday afternoon.

Hometown hero Mārtiņš Sesks hopes to benefit from his superior knowledge of the Latvian stages. The 24-year-old will look to capitalise on his experience here when it was part of the European Rally Championship (ERC), where he claimed impressive victories in both 2022 and 2023.

Sesks’ stunning Rally1 debut on Rally Poland should set him in good stead for his upgrade to full-hybrid machinery in Latvia. Despite running without the hybrid boost system on the car in Poland, Sesks still set a second-fastest time on SS2 and finished in a fantastic fifth overall on Sunday. Now, with both experience of the event and equal power output to the other Rally1 crews, fans will look forward to seeing what Sesks can deliver.

Fresh from his third podium of the 2024 season on Rally Poland, Adrien Fourmaux makes his Latvian debut this week. Already a fan of high-speed, smooth gravel rallies like Finland and Estonia, the Frenchman expects to enjoy the challenge ahead of him. Poland was also a new event for Fourmaux, and with this week’s event being new for most crews the Frenchman will hope to take full benefit from his road position and being on a more equal level to others here with the new stages.

Grégoire Munster will look to benefit from his three years’ experience in Latvia when it was part of the ERC, having claimed a strong sixth overall finish in 2020. As the eighth rally of his first full season in WRC, Munster will use his recent experience in Poland to give him additional confidence on the incredibly fast loose gravel roads.

In WRC2, William Creighton and Liam Regan return to the team aboard their Ford Fiesta Rally2. Also their first time competing in Latvia, the Irish pairing will hope to apply their knowledge of Estonian high-speed conditions to give them the best chance this weekend as well as gaining more knowledge of the car ahead of Rally Finland at the end of the month.

Richard Millener, Team Principal, said: “I’m looking forward to Latvia, it’s always nice to welcome a brand-new event to the championship, and I’ve heard a lot about this event during its time in ERC. The highlight this week will undoubtedly be running Mārtiņš on his home rally, we’re expecting he will get a lot of attention in the service park! I’m excited to see what he can achieve as a two-time winner of this rally, and especially now with full-hybrid power at his disposal.“Adrien and Grégoire can also do well here, they have strong road positions and like in Poland, if they keep focused on delivering clean, reliable drives then anything can happen.The challenge of new stages for a lot of the crews should make things a lot more interesting for us all to watch.“I’m also happy to welcome back William and Liam in the Fiesta Rally2, they have had a good test here on Sunday so it will be interesting to see what they can deliver.”

Adrien Fourmaux said: “Latvia rally will be the second of the three fast gravel rallies this season, and I don’t really know what to expect! There aren’t as many jumps as in Poland, but it’s still a really fast rally with a loose surface on the top. After the great result we had in Poland, we want to try and match that and even better it if we can. It’s going to be interesting to see where we are when it’s a new rally for nearly everybody.”

Grégoire Munster said: “I’m looking forward to Latvia as we found some good pace in Poland; the roads are quite similar here, just with a harder surface, but it’s still a very fast event in the fields and the forest. We will also have a good starting position, so we will try to benefit from that on the first day. I’m just excited to get started.”

Mārtiņš Sesks said: “After one day of testing, there’s still a lot to find out about what we can do with this extra speed of hybrid. We are well aware that on better-known roads, our attention to pacenote details has to be two times more. But it’s clear that our country’s first-ever WRC round is going to be a thrilling mix of speed and challenges - and that’s exactly what gets our hearts racing!”

William Creighton said: “Latvia will provide a real change of pace from the first half of the season - our first proper fast gravel rally in a Rally2 car. The plan is to put the things we’ve learnt over the first half of the season to good use, but with a new profile of stages it will no doubt take a bit of learning from my side. All the prep is done now – I just want to approach the rally relaxed, enjoy it and get the best out of myself!”

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Tet Rally Latvia tickets available at Biļešu Paradīze online store www.bilesuparadize.lv.

News and other information about the Tet Rally Latvia, round of the 2024 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), available at www.lvrally.com, as well as on social media X @LVRally, Facebook @LVRally, Instagram @lvrally, and TikTok @tetrallylatvia. While, news about the FIA World Rally Championship available at www.wrc.com.

Tet Rally Latvia, round of the FIA World Rally Championship, is set to take place on July 18-21, 2024. The event is possible thanks to the support provided by Ministry of Education and Science, rally city Liepāja and capital city Rīga, as well as municipalities of Tukums, Talsi, and Kuldīga. Special thanks to general sponsor Tet, many thanks to our main sponsors Ramirent, Sportland, and X3000, official car partner Toyota, as well as sponsors BTA, Fristads, and SIXT. Thanks to our partners Canon Biznesa Centrs Liepāja, Latvijas Valsts meži and municipality of Dienvidkurzeme. Informative support provided by news portal DELFI, Kurzemes Radio, Sporta Avīze un Talsu Vēstis. Thanks to Tet Rally Latvia supporters shopping malls AKROPOLE, AOK, Ballīte Ballītē, Biķernieku trase, Conti STL, Conway, CSDD, DHL, Eco Baltia vide, Elnetworks, Flora, FN Serviss, Getic, Jānis Pūce, Löfbergs, Liepāja Special Economic Zone, MB Grupa, Mission Latvia, OCT Composites, Peltors, Rentadisplay, Rīgas Brīvostas pārvalde, Riga Motormusem, SignTech, Swecon, Swan, Törley, Travel Latvia, as well as technical partner Sports Racing Technologies. Tet Rally Latvia is organised by RA Events in cooperation with Speed Festival Kurzeme and Latvian Automobile Federation.

Tet Rally Latvia supports initiatives carried out by Latvian Children's Support Centre, who has created and are developing social rehabilitation facility for children with special needs.

We invite you to support this initiative, by making a donation here: http://www.lbaf.lv/lv/ka-ziedot.