M-SPORT CONFIRMS WRC LINE-UP

M-Sport confirms WRC line-up – Image: LAT

The British M-Sport Ford team has announced its driver line-up for the upcoming 2021 FIA World Rally Championship with the inexperienced Gus Greensmith leading the squad.

By DAN McCARTHY

The 24-year-old Englishman will tackle his first full season in the top-tier World Rally Championship after competing in a majority of rounds for the team last season.

Greensmith will be joined by three-time podium finisher Teemu Suninen and rookie Adrien Fourmaux who will share the second Ford Fiesta WRC machine.

M-Sport admits that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the team financially but is confident that the situation will improve as the year progresses.

“We will continue to work hard to see if we can increase Teemu’s programme and bring additional top-level drivers into the squad, but we also have to be honest and say that the Covid situation has made things extremely difficult for us,” said team principal Richard Millener.

“That said, we hope there is light at the end of the tunnel, and I know that every single member of the team will continue to give their best as we push for the best possible results in 2021.”

Greensmith and co-driver Elliott Edmondson scored a career-best fifth place finish in Rally Turkey last year and Millener expects the pair will maintain the progress going into 2021.

“We’re delighted to offer Greensmith his first full season with the top-specification Fiesta, and want to see him and Elliott take maximum experience from a full rally and test programme – learning not only the rallies, but the intricacies of set-up, engineering and everything that goes into becoming a world-class driver,” he said.

In 2021 Suninen will have a new co-driver, however the Finnish youngster has not yet confirmed who will replace the experienced Jarmo Lehtinen who decided to step down.

“We all know that Teemu has the speed. It’s something we saw on his very first outing with the Ford Fiesta WRC and we felt it important to find a way for him to continue with us this year,” Millener explained.

“We’ve managed to create a partial WRC programme for him and will target specific events where he and the Fiesta can be competitive.”

Frenchman Fourmaux will step up to drive in select WRC rounds this year along with a full-time WRC2 campaign with M-Sport.

“We want to ensure he gets to experience as many rallies as possible, continuing to showcase the performance of the Fiesta Rally2 but also starting to pit himself against the world’s best,” Millener said.

Suninen and Fourmaux’s WRC events are yet to be finalised, however M-Sport confirmed that for the season opening event in Monte Carlo, Greensmith will be joined by Suninen.

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