M-Sport Ford driver Adrien Fourmaux delivered a dominant performance to take a debut win aboard a Ford Fiesta WRC at this weekend’s Rallylegend in San Marino.
The Frenchman was fastest on nine of the event’s 12 stages on his way to a comfortable victory over Swiss driver Il Valli’s Hyundai i20 WRC.
Fourmaux belied his experience of the 45-mile event and the car to bring home a competent win.
“It was fantastic to drive this car for the first time,” he said. “The stages were really nice and challenging in some places. I like the event as well, it’s been a nice atmosphere and a nice weekend.”
M-Sport team principal Richard Millener was present in San Marino in transit to this week’s Rally Italy in Sardinia. He was impressed with what he saw from Formaux.
“It’s fair to say the competition wasn’t quite as fierce as it might have been,” said Millener, “but Adrien did a very good job in getting himself up to speed with the car – these are not easy things to jump in and drive – and then delivered a very solid performance.”
Italian driver Enrico Tortone nabbed the final step of the podium on the last stage, using his Ford Fiesta RS WRC to edge French hero François Delecour by 1.3s.
Delecour was driving the all-new Alpine A110 Rally for the first time.
American star Ken Block ensured he took yet more Rallylegend silverware away with him, scoring a fine win in the ‘Myth’ section of the event aboard his Ford Escort RS Cosworth.
Typically, there was plenty on show throughout Rallylegend, with Sunday’s ‘Legend Stars’ section thrilling the fans as two-time world champion Miki Biasion drove a Lancia Stratos for the first time (with his wife Paolo co-driving) while Ari Vatanen and Fabrizia Pons were re-united in an Escort RS Cosworth as well.
