Adrien Fourmaux is tight-lipped over a potential Hyundai switch in the World Rally Championship, dismissing such talk as rumors but not completely ruling it out.
Fourmaux returned to M-Sport’s Rally1 lineup at the top of 2024 after a season in Rally2 machinery last year, and has impressed greatly with four podiums from nine events leaving him fifth in the world championship.
The Frenchman, 29, has been linked with Hyundai in recent weeks, as Cyril Abiteboul’s outfit evaluates what to do with its third i20 alongside Thierry Neuville and Ott Tänak in 2025.
M-Sport team principal Richard Millener ‘remains positive’ the semi-works team can retain Fourmaux next season, previously telling DirtFish: “He is an incredible talent and he’s made it clear he wants to gain his first win and, in time, his first championship with M-Sport.
“We now have to work very hard over the next few months to ensure that we do everything we can to keep him.”
Millener (right) is fairly confident M-Sport can keep its lead driver next season
Asked about a potential change in the off-season, Fourmaux batted away the question and instead stated his desire to focus on the remaining four rallies of the year.
But he didn’t confirm he would definitely be driving for M-Sport either.
“It’s always a lot of rumors at this time of the season,” he told DirtFish. “For now, I just want to be focused on the four next events coming.
“But for sure, it’s time also to have discussion for the future, for next year, but also the years after. So for sure, we have discussion, but you will know that later.”
Fourmaux’s target for the rest of the season is to try and seal third place in the championship – a position he held earlier in the year after podiums in Sweden and Kenya.
“I’m sure it’s still possible,” he added. “So I want to push that way and let’s see what happens.
“I think to fight for the championship might be really difficult, but at least to fight for the podium of the championship, this is my big target now.”
Fourmaux has his sights set on climbing back to P3 in the championship standings
Acropolis Rally Greece should be a strong starting point for Fourmaux who has performed well there before.
“Well, the target is to raise [to] the top of the podium, I think I missed that,” he stated.
“We did four podiums, but I definitely want to go higher now. It’s a rally that I think I like, my driving is suitable also for that. So I have quite a high expectation, but for sure I will have the same approach as before. I’ll do my best and then we’ll see.
“Last year we’ve been really competitive with the Rally2. I did it in the past in the World Rally Car, and it was a nice experience. I was fourth overall before an engine issue, so I’ve been quite competitive in Greece, so I feel quite comfortable in those roads.
“But I know that we will have to be careful with tires, with suspension, to make sure that we don’t break anything, because it’s going to be a rough event.”
Fourmaux benefited from a two-day test last week where he worked on improving traction and making the Puma Rally1 easier to drive.
He explained: “We know the Greece rally is a really rough event, so we need a car capable of accepting all the loose rocks we’ll find on the big compressions, etc. There is not so many jumps, but for sure, the big compressions, loose rocks.
“So then we try to optimize the car, but also make a car we can easily rotate. The average speed would be for sure slower than the other rallies, so we were working on it.”
