WRC
Fourmaux: We deserved much more from Acropolis
Adrien Fourmaux believes his EKO Acropolis Rally Greece performance proved Hyundai had the pace to fight for victory, even if repeated issues left him frustrated by what might have been.
The Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team driver was one of the standout performers during the opening half of the rally, leading on Friday morning and regularly matching the fastest times at the front of the field.
But his challenge was repeatedly interrupted across the weekend. Fourmaux lost time with a puncture on Friday, again on Saturday afternoon, and twice more during Sunday’s final leg. He eventually finished seventh overall after a post-rally one-minute penalty, having originally crossed the finish sixth on the road.
“I just think we deserved much more than what we got in the end,” Fourmaux said. “That’s clear.
“I have no words, because I know it is a lottery. I just realised that everywhere I was pushing, I had no puncture - nothing. Every time I started to have a look and be careful, bam, puncture.”
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Fourmaux’s pace was clear from the start of the rally. He won two stages on Friday morning and briefly moved into the overall lead before losing time on Stiri. He remained in podium contention into Saturday, then fought back again on Sunday as the rally continued to punish crews on the rough Greek gravel.
The Frenchman said the most frustrating aspect was that his issues often appeared to come when he was trying to manage the risk rather than when he was pushing hardest.
“Even in the fourth stage, I was thinking: ‘Okay, I need to be careful there, there and there.’ Then, in the end, I got a puncture and I was like: ‘Where? Where?’
“So I wonder if I should just forget it and go flat out all the time, and we will see what happens. In the end, it is a real shame.”
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Despite the disappointment, Fourmaux was keen to take encouragement from the speed he and co-driver Alexandre Coria showed in their i20 N Rally1.
“But anyway, it has been very positive,” he said. “We have to take the positives. We have the pace and we were able to fight for the win, I think, from the beginning.
“Later on, we had some issues, but it is what it is. It is just very frustrating for the championship because I had some very good hopes to score some good points, and actually it has not gone so well.”
The championship now moves away from the rough gravel of Greece and towards the faster roads of Estonia and Finland, where Fourmaux hopes Hyundai can turn its Acropolis pace into a stronger points return.
“It is going to be different, but we saw last year that there were also some rocks coming up on the second passes,” he said. “So we will have to be good, and for sure we will have strong opposition once again.
“We will have to push and get the maximum points. We saw last year in Estonia that if you start late, then normally you are not able to win the rally.
“So let’s do it.”
