Mon 16 Dec 2024

Fourmaux shines on Hyundai debut

Adrien Fourmaux scored a debut win with Hyundai, beating two-time world champion Kalle Rovanperä on last weekend’s Rallye National Hivernal du Dévoluy.

The French driver scored a 15.5-second victory over his Toyota rival, but admitted the bigger win came in his feeling with the i20 N Rally1 which ran on tyres supplied by Hankook.

“It was a good start with Hyundai,” he said, “like it was a good end with M-Sport (after winning the Monza Rally Show the previous weekend). It was nice to beat Kalle [Rovanperä], I wasn’t really expecting this – but it was good to have him there to compare our stage times.

“This was a difficult rally to learn a new car on, the conditions were changing a lot with snow coming, then melting and then giving the black ice. It was tough. We changed the car a lot through the rally, I tried all of the settings and was really comfortable with it by the time we finished.”

Fourmaux’s initial rollout with the car was completed on Tuesday ahead of the Friday shakedown for the event based north-west of Gap, the home of next month’s 2025 season-opening Rallye Monte-Carlo.

“I’m looking forward to next season,” said Fourmaux. “Definitely, this rally has given me some more confidence, I know I can drive the car and I know I feel comfortable with the car – this is really important. It was nice to meet the team and to spend time in the factory. Like I said, this is a good start.”

Sweden
Starts: Thursday, February 13, 2025 at 8:00:00 AM
Spain
Starts: Thursday, April 3, 2025 at 7:00:00 AM
Turkey
Starts: Sunday, November 10, 2024 at 8:30:00 AM