In part, Mārtiņš Sesks has WRC Promoter to thank for his sensational pair of Rally1 outings earlier this year in Poland and Latvia, as well as his third chance next week in Chile.
So too, it transpires, does Sami Pajari for his maiden Rally1 outing at last month’s Rally Finland.
The World Rally Championship’s promoter has been supporting manufacturer teams to offer younger drivers a chance in the top league, and aims to continue doing so into next season too.
“We offer to all manufacturers involved in the championship if you get a new driver, you get the support from us, financial wise,” said Peter Thul, WRC Promoter senior director or sport.
“And it happened with Mārtiņš, and it happened with Sami Pajari at Toyota. And I cannot tell you what is the plan for him, because you have to ask Toyota, but Toyota knows in case something will further happen, we would love to support.
“We also offered it to Hyundai, but at Hyundai they have I think the topic of the car availability, but they loved the idea as well. So this is something we would like to continue also next year.”
Running non-hybrid cars, like Sesks has used, bridge the gap between Rally2 and Rally1
Thul believes running these young drivers in non-hybrid cars for young drivers, like Sesks in Poland and the forthcoming Chile, “opens a gate” for aspiring talents.
“It’s the right way to come from WRC2 into WRC without having all the sophistications, making full use of the hybrid system and things, because they are busy enough to handle the extra power and especially the aero,” he explained.
“Mārtiņš said in Poland on the third last stage he lost the front bumper and then on the next one he knew what aerodynamic is about, and this is a really a learning curve, very stable. Now Mārtiņš will go to Chile, which will be a difficult event for him first of all [because] he never was there, second the hybrid power is [probably more important] in Chile but he’s still in the learning process.
“And then Sami’s debut in Finland was perfect. So, this is what we would like to do as our contribution to get young drivers bridging the gap and to get them into it.”
Thul added that WRC Promoter has “a very long list” of drivers on its radar, including Robert Virves.
“He is definitely one name on the list, [but] it is a very long list,” he said.
“And by the way, we are not fully paying everything, the driver also brings his contribution. M-Sport did do something on that. And so, altogether we can make it, because it’s not a cheap thing to run a Rally1.
“It’s an initiative we can only encourage. We cannot run our own team.”
