It’s hitting home all over again. Waking up in Belgium is not where Adrien Fourmaux wanted to be this morning. His head’s in Ypres, but his heart is very much in Naivasha.
The M-Sport Ford driver is, of course, looking forward to one of the best organized rallies in Europe; to driving some fabulous stages in a factory Ford Fiesta Rally2. But it’s not Africa.
“I will miss that event,” Fourmaux told DirtFish. “I love the Safari, it’s one of my favorite rallies – but also I will miss the people who support me there and I’ll miss the country.”
Africa does that to you. It gets you and it keeps a special place in your heart.
Fourmaux was lost to the place when he landed there for the first time in 2021. Like so many first-timers, he bought the colorful bracelet and wore it with pride.
“I don’t take it off,” he said, eyeing the now faded reds and greens on his right arm. “It helps me remember the place all of the time. It’s a special place.”
And that was a special moment. He scored his first World Rally Championship stage win on that event and, had he not taken a sizey cut on Sunday, he would have finished fourth.
Last year was more frantic, but there was still a fastest and second fastest time aboard the Puma.
This week is more Kemmelberg and Dikkebus than Kedong and Sleeping Warrior.
As naughty steps go, Ypres in one of the world’s fastest Rally2 cars is far from the worst. And Fourmaux knows he has a job to do.
“We know how hard everybody at M-Sport is working on this car,” he said. “We saw that on the last rally in Sardinia. The pace we could make there and how we could lead the rally was good and how comfortable I felt with the car – I was heartbroken for what happened, so disappointed for all of the team.”
The response to Fourmaux’s final-stage shunt felt different from Dovenby.
Team principal Richard Millener wanted to go on the record and publicly support the Frenchman. He pointed to his speed and demonstration of talent as the takeaways from the Italian island.
And Fourmaux has come a very long way from the driver who binned a brand-new Ford Puma Rally1 on the opening morning of 2022. He’s matured tremendously and he’s got quicker.
What we’re seeing this year is Fourmaux 2.0. Yes Sardinia was a setback, but every now and then you get conditions which are close to being undrivable. Watch the onboards from so many before him going down that piece of road – there’s near-miss after near-miss.
I’ve been hard on Fourmaux in the past, but this time I genuinely think he’s got the message.
Millener and M-Sport managing director Malcolm Wilson are two of the service park’s most experienced and deep-thinking people. Wilson’s speciality is breathing new life into careers – witness current WRC chargers Elfyn Evans and Ott Tänak as evidence.
What Fourmaux needs to do this weekend is put Kenya out of his mind. Maybe put the bracelet to one side, drive Belgium, bring the car home and focus on the future.
This time next year, the bracelet and the dream could be very firmly back on an African track.
