Mārtiņš Sesks is all-in on Rally1. After exceeding everyone’s exceptions on his World Rally Championship double in Poland and Latvia, Sesks has earned one more chance to impress on Rally Chile.
He started the year thinking he’d be competing for the European Rally Championship title. He’s ending it having parked those ambitions, redirecting funds to complement the support he’s received from WRC Promoter and M-Sport and pushing to make the most of an opportunity to reach rallying’s highest level – one which a year ago he wouldn’t have imagined he’d get.
DirtFish asks if he’s planning to race in the ERC’s Poland-based season finale, Silesia: “Most likely we are not going,” confirms Sesks, who turned 25 last week. “We still have big support from WRC Promoter and M-Sport but we still need to put some amount [of money] in it as well, so it’s not easy to be in both championships at one time.”
It’s hard not to look at Sesks’ Chile outing as one final chance to impress M-Sport managing dirctor Malcolm Wilson – and WRC team-principal Richard Millener – in the quest for a seat next season.
Ask Wilson and that’s exactly what Chile will represent – once the question of Ford’s participation in the WRC has been resolved, anyway.
“My priority is to find a way to stay in WRC, and again, a lot will depend on how many cars,” explained Wilson after Acropolis Rally Greece. “But he’s certainly one of the guys that we will definitely be looking at. Because whatever happens, we will be looking at younger drivers and building basically for the future.”
It’s a very public audition for the opportunity to be in a Puma Rally1 more often in 2025. And the good news is he’s been doing all the right things so far.
Going second-quickest on his first ever WRC stage set the tone in Poland. But Latvia was even more impressive because of the level of pressure he soaked up – battling world champions Kalle Rovanperä and Sébastien Ogier all the way through the rally, only to be let down by a technical problem on the powerstage that cost Sesks a likely maiden podium.
After those outings, M-Sport was eager for more of the same.
“Rich and the guys have been pushing to try and find a way to get him so that he can do Chile, because he did an incredible performance,” said Wilson. “I know Latvia was his home event, but to do what he did, the pressure on him with it being his home event and to basically for two days keep within around five seconds of Ogier, it was quite unique.
Wilson then admitted: “I honestly felt that at some point the pressure would bury him.”
Sesks was the center of attention on Rally Latvia – but didn't let the pressure affect his performance
But Sesks showed his mettle. Blocking out all the noise worked wonders in Latvia. Poland, the event before his home round, provided marginally less pressure. He plans to treat this week in South America in the same way he viewed his trip to Mikołajki.
“We are coming back to the mindset we had in Poland,” said Sesks. “Again the rally is new for us, also the characteristics of the rally are also new to the Rally1 car without the hybrid. We know for the fast rallies it doesn’t make a big difference but here in Chile, we know that hybrid should help more than it was in Poland.
“We’ll just start the event and we’ll see where we are. Then we will understand what our pace is, what the pace of the non-hybrid car is, and we’ll take it from there. Because at the moment no-one really knows.
“The most important thing is to show we can have a trouble-free race. That’s the aim for us, to just finish the race without any troubles because I think that’s what worth the most, that we can manage these long, hard rallies.”
That will be music to Wilson and Millener’s ears. Over the years – including this one – M-Sport has often had to watch on as its young charges stick top-level machinery into a vast assortment of foliage. It’s an understandable part of the learning curve for rookies, though, as evidenced by Sami Pajari going off the road on the first proper stage of Rally Finland.
It was wet. It was slippery. Pajari was understandably going to be a bit nervous – making his debut for the Toyota factory team on his home event are the highest stakes he’s faced to date. Spinning off and damaging the rear of his GR Yaris Rally1 was not an especially unpredictable outcome.
Pajari was also impressive on his recent Rally1 debut – though had a difficult start after damging his car on the Laukaa stage first thing on Friday morning of Rally Finland
But Sesks was quick to point out he had the better circumstances. It could easily have happened to him – and he’s planning to be careful to avoid the same fate in Chile.
“If we only had the chance in Latvia with a full-spec car, I would say on the first stage I would probably make the same mistake as Sami did,” said Sesks. “But it was nice to see that he managed to come back strongly, deliver the stage win and finish fourth. He did a good job coming back; it’s not easy during the rally to make mistakes and come back stronger to deliver a result after all. So hats off to Sami for that.”
The class-of-2024 rookies will finally face off against one another for the first time in Chile, having originally been scheduled to do battle in Latvia before Pajari’s debut was postponed. But this time it won’t be a fight on level terms; Pajari’s Toyota will have a hybrid unit and Sesks’ Ford won’t.
With ERC on the backburner and his funds being directed towards this Chile opportunity, Sesks’ preparation was focused on an outing in a Fiesta Rally2 on Rally Ciudad de Granada – which championship leader Thierry Neuville also traversed in an i20 N Rally1.
How Sesks and co-driver Renārs Francis ended up there in the first place is evidence of how his Chile chance came entirely off the back of his stunning form during the mid-season fast gravel rounds.
“When I was sitting down after Latvia, we had plans to do some ERC rounds,” explains Sesks. “Basically September was completely free a month ago. Renārs had scheduled his vacation [at the same time as Granada] and had to cancel it! So when the opportunity came we had to reset ourselves.
“Even though it’s Rally2, every opportunity to drive is important to stay in shape. After Latvia we haven’t been in a car for basically a month, then a test and the rally. So it was really good to be back because you forget the small things and how to be at that highest level.”
Sesks finished second on Rally Ciudad de Granada to Mikko Heikkilä, a frequent rival during his ERC days on fast gravel
When not competing in Europe, Sesks has been working as a driver coach in Indonesia, a line of work that’s paid off in a rather unexpected manner after his M-Sport outings in the WRC. After his exploits in the non-hybrid Puma in Poland, Indonesian driver Putra Rizky purchased the very same chassis Sesks drove earlier this year, an outcome Wilson was naturally ecstatic with.
“I think after this one car sold there’s interest for a few more,” said Sesks. “So basically keep it like that. Maybe our car after Chile goes somewhere! And that will benefit all of us at the end of the day.”
There’s no doubt Sesks’ presence in Indonesia helped make that sale a reality. But he’s not a salesman looking for a commission either: “It’ll be fine getting an opportunity to drive more…”
Generating sales leads to shift customer cars isn’t a normal part of a professional rally driver’s job description. But Sesks isn’t in a normal position: with Toyota currently playing a game of musical chairs to fit its current driver roster into its lineup of Rally1 cars, and Hyundai looking elsewhere for drivers to pilot its third car, Sesks has been finding other ways to make himself the perfect M-Sport driver of the future.
“Yeah, that’s exactly the thing,” he says. “We are coming from a small market in Latvia so we have to find more ways than just driving and trying to deliver the whole package. But at the end of the day the winner is who’s fastest on track. One step at a time and hopefully it brings something in the bigger picture.
“I really hope there are some future things with M-Sport that we can use for next season and for a long time. But now a lot depends on how we’re doing in Chile, I think. One step at a time.”
Chile is only one step for Sesks. But, if the stars align as they did earlier this year to deliver his WRC debut, it could also be the final step toward him becoming a permanent member of the WRC service park in 2025.
