When you’ve picked up a World Rally Car from the bottom of a Méxican lake and made it work the next day, fixing one that’s tumbled down a mountain is no problem for M-Sport.
It was an all-nighter, but the Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid that Craig Breen crashed on Wednesday is back on the road in the hands of Gus Greensmith on Thursday.
“I’m surprised you’re surprised,” said team principal Richard Millener. “This is what we do.
“In all honesty, it was a fairly big rebuild. It took a fair bit of work, but the guys were never in any doubt that they’d have Gus out today.
“When we saw the crash you could see there were a couple of bumps on the front corners and then it rolled down the hill. There wasn’t one massive impact anywhere, but it still takes a lot of time and effort to get it right again. The car has to drive perfectly otherwise there’s no point being on the test.
“It might not be ready for a photoshoot, but to be honest, I’m just very glad to have the car running again and to be able to give Gus some more seat time ahead of next week – and, of course, to have it ready for Sébastien [Loeb] when he joins us on Sunday.
This is what a night’s work from @MSportLtd means for @GusGreensmith. The Puma’s up, out and running free again… Thanks to José Arellano for capturing the beast. pic.twitter.com/itP3MBoVMx
— dirtfishrally (@DirtFishRally) January 13, 2022
“On a personal level, I want to thank everybody out there on the test who has made this happen. Once again, they’ve done a fantastic job and I know Gus and the rest of us, we’re all very grateful!”
The team estimate Breen lost around 80 miles of running, having completed early mileage on Wednesday before he was caught out in a left-hander over a bridge.
