He’s heading down a path well trodden, for trading the rough and tumble of the World Rally Championship’s top class, competition and machinery for a different four-wheel-drive Ford is no new route.
Just ask the two most recent winners of Rally Finland, Elfyn Evans and Ott Tänak.
That’s no bad company for Adrien Fourmaux to be in – and coincidentally he is recently off the back of an impressive Finland performance, finishing second in WRC2 at the start of the month.
But the comparisons between Fourmaux’s 2023 and the 2016 season of Finland victor and now Toyota driver Evans are clear for all to see.
Seven years ago, Evans was also driving a Fiesta in WRC2 after two years in a WRC car. And he also had an extra-curricular activity to focus on in the shape of the British Rally Championship.
Back then, the BRC had just been relaunched after a one-year sabbatical in 2015 and Malcolm Wilson decided Evans should head back to his domestic series for some extra seat-time.
This time, Fourmaux has been using the British stages both for extra seat time but also as a test bed for the Fiesta Rally2 as M-Sport has sought to improve its Rally2 challenger.
With three wins from the first three rounds, it’s Fourmaux-led advert is fairly compelling. But it’s far more than just a mission for the Frenchman – he’s enjoying his time in the BRC.
“We are leading the championship with three wins, so actually it’s a really good time,” Fourmaux told DirtFish.
“There are nice stages, people are happy to see us in the championship, so honestly it’s great even for us, and it’s good also to drive all the time.
“And also for the improvement, we are trying things, so it’s great.”
Fourmaux is back in BRC action for this weekend’s fourth round in Northern Ireland, the Ulster Rally, where another Evans link comes in as Elfyn won the championship there in 2016, exactly 20 years on from his father Gwyndaf achieving the same.
But despite Fourmaux’s domination this year so far and the absence of his closest championship rival, Keith Cronin, there’ll be no coronation on Saturday.
A win appears likely given Fourmaux’s form and the fact just six BRC cars have entered (and only one of them beyond Fourmaux is a Rally2), but with the final round in Wales being a double-pointer Fourmaux can’t quite seal the title just yet.
However the job he is doing hasn’t gone unnoticed, and the likelihood of history repeating itself is tempting for us all to contemplate.
“For sure the goal is to get back in the Rally1,” Fourmaux said.
“That is always the main goal.”
As for this weekend?
“They told me it was a mix of the Jim Clark and Ypres, so it’s a bit like southern Ireland.
“It’s a really nice rally, really famous, so I’m sure we’ll enjoy it.”
