The care Adrien Fourmaux takes in selecting his words only serves to emphasize his thoughts on his start to the season.
The team’s not where he thought it would be. And nor is he.
Tentatively, he offers: “I left M-Sport, going to Hyundai, really expecting… they were champion with Thierry [Neuville], they were fighting for the [manufacturers’] championship until the last stage. I had a lot of expectation and, actually, the performance was going down the year after.
“Even Thierry is not winning anymore.”
Across Monte Carlo and Sweden, nobody aboard a Hyundai has looked even close to winning – but no i20 has been quicker than the Frenchman’s. Fourmaux was fourth at round one, but close to six minutes off the pace at round one and fifth in the snow, 1m50s down on Elfyn Evans’ winning total.
Joining Hyundai should've been Fourmaux's meal ticket, but the team has struggled since the Frenchman arrived
“We were not where we wanted to be [in Sweden],” he added with a degree of resignation. “But I think the team is as frustrated as we are – nobody is happy to finish fifth to seventh [as a team]. It’s a common feeling and we need to work on and make sure have good results coming after that.”
That’s the party line dealt with, but what about him? This is only Fourmaux’s fourth full season in the World Rally Championship, but he’s already 30 years old. Time remains on his side, but he’s also aware the clock is very much ticking.
The frustration is as understandable as it is justified, never more than when looks back to November and spots the missed opportunity that was a maiden WRC win in Saudi Arabia (lost to a time penalty).
“I just keep my head up and I just still believe that one day my time will come,” he said.
I'm not born with a father who is world champion like Kalle or Oliver. So, I have to discover a bit everything lateAdrien Fourmaux
“Every rally is a new experience, I’m still learning, I’m still young in rallying. Ten years ago I was still in medicine [and training to be a doctor]. And, yeah, fortunately, unfortunately, I’m not born with a father who is world champion – you know, like Kalle [Rovanperä] or Oliver [Solberg]. So, I have to discover a bit everything late.”
Sensing the glass could be coming across half-empty, Fourmaux’s optimism shines through.
“Actually,” he counters his own perspective, “I think I’m doing quite alright. And I just wait [for] my time. When I look at my team-mates and I’m on pace with them, I think I can be already positive.”
Moving the conversation back to this year’s i20 – the fully evolved evolution of the car which helped Neuville to his world title in 2024 – isn’t necessarily the best move.
“I drove this [2024] car only twice, Monte Carlo and Kenya,” Fourmaux pauses to let that point settle. “And both rallies were really good performances.”
He’s not wrong: a debut podium in Monte and a 10-pointer for the Super Sunday and powerstage double on the final day in Kenya.
“For the new car, for sure, we are a bit struggling.”
Why?
“I don’t know. We need to ask the drivers at that time when they decided to make a different car, but I don’t want to point to anybody.”
That’s not Fourmaux throwing anybody under the bus, it’s simply his approach to answering a question honestly – he wasn’t there when key development decisions were made about the evolution.
