Adrien Fourmaux opens up to Minoia about his clear improvements as a driver
Plenty of others have hogged the limelight from him. Ott Tanak was first with his decision to return to Hyundai after just a year back at M-Sport, but was swiftly followed by Kalle Rovanpera with his bombshell part-time World Rally Championship schedule.
Andreas Mikkelsen then surprised us all when his own return to Hyundai - but more importantly Rally1 - was confirmed.
Even his own team-mate, Gregoire Munster, generated more interest when M-Sport announced its drivers, as his place in the line-up was far from foreseen.
But flying under the radar, playing the role of the dark horse, is just how Adrien Fourmaux likes it.
Maybe that statement hasn't always been true of the Frenchman, but Fourmaux (now 28) has developed into a far different driver, and character, than the one who struggled so publicly in his first full season two years ago.
Standing on the brink of his return to the Ford Puma Rally1, Fourmaux is a man entirely at ease with both his environment and his own abilities as a driver. But more importantly, Fourmaux is now a man that understands how to get the most out of himself.
Learning to control stress
Fourmaux's rise through rallying's ranks was rapid. In just his fourth year behind the wheel he was a regular in the WRC. In his fifth year he was driving a fully-fledged World Rally Car for what turned out to be most of the season after Teemu Suninen suddenly left M-Sport.
His performances earned him a permanent drive in 2022 as the WRC transitioned to hybrid Rally1 technology, but a big crash on Rally Monte Carlo set the tone for a bruising season.
As proved by the quality of his driving back in a Ford Fiesta Rally2 last year, Fourmaux's learned from that. The big question now is whether he can translate his Rally2 form back into Rally1.
The clever money is on yes, given the stark difference in Fourmaux's demeanour on the brink of his next Rally1 season compared to his first.
"Well I'm different because I had two years of rallying," Fourmaux tells Minoia.
"For sure one wasn't as good as the other, but I get more experience of everything; when you are in a bad situation, when you are in a good situation.
"I'm enjoying a lot more than I was enjoying before - to drive and even to share the time that I am sharing today.
"In the past maybe I wasn't really controlling the stress and the pressure you can get from everything," he reveals.
"Now I just manage it and just deal with it so my approach is different on the rallies, but also because I have less mental load I would say, it's much easier for me just to stay focused on my performance and my driving and enjoying it, because at the end we are doing a risky sport so if you don't enjoy it it's pointless."
If Fourmaux is enjoying it more, it stands to reason that his driving will be better. And it appears as if he has learned how to through some deep analysis of his own driving. His comments about controlling his stress levels and the pressure upon his shoulders are fascinating, and in keeping with a character who is very self-aware.
These are all admirable and deceptively important traits for a rally driver.
"Actually I am just enjoying and I am lucky to be back in a Rally1," Fourmaux continues.
"Not so many drivers have done it in the past, or at least just one season back in Rally2, so I can be really happy.
"If I compare with my other team-mates in '22 I'm back compared to them, so I can be pleased."
Where Fourmaux has changed
Drawing comparisons between Fourmaux's 2022 results in a Rally1 car and his 2023 campaign in a Fiesta Rally2 is basically impossible, given the difference in competition and machinery.
But it's obvious he's now a driver reborn. As he explained, he has learned how to compose himself and deal with any pressure, which has in turn had a revolutionary impact on his performances and therefore results.
It's clear the decision to regress to Rally2 was a smart one, and Fourmaux was able to drive 16 rallies (and claim a national championship title) as he built himself back up to the Rally1 pressure-cooker.
He's sure history isn't about to repeat itself as he steps back into a Rally1.
"If you talk about '22 I think it was too early," Fourmaux admits.
"Maybe because I showed too much when I jumped into the WRC car in '21 so then Malcolm [Wilson, M-Sport managing director] says 'yeah you can go for a full season and lead the development of the car' which was really good to be fair for the experience.
"My understanding of the cars is really good because of this and it's really, really nice but for sure I wasn't really prepared... I think maybe it was just one step I had to do.
"It's difficult to say when you are ready, you have to try, but with the team we made a good decision to put me back into Rally2 and now I think I'm ready to go back to Rally1.
"I know we can still be competitive," he adds, "we can still get good results which are maybe better than most expect, so it's really open.
"We will see where we are, there is a new points scoring system to consider also, so for me it's interesting.
"I'm also really different - my approach and how I managed it before I was focused on how to beat the others, now I just beat myself and just enjoy."
Fourmaux's envious position
Elfyn Evans, Thierry Neuville and Ott Tanak all head into the new season with one very clear mission and expectation: to win.
Esapekka Lappi, Andreas Mikkelsen and Dani Sordo have a different but similarly clear objective: to support their championship-chasing Hyundai team-mates.
Adrien Fourmaux? He almost has nothing to lose.
Nobody is outwardly expecting M-Sport to win a rally this year, let alone a championship. That responsibility is left to its rivals Hyundai and Toyota. Fourmaux and his team are the underdogs, which presents an enviable opportunity to impress.
"I think this is maybe our strength," Fourmaux says.
"Nobody expects us to be fighting but we can be there. We can make some good surprise and I think it can also help us to show ourself because maybe in these people's eyes, the young guys with M-Sport we will be in the background but I don't think it will be like this.
"We will see, I don't want to put any pressure on myself for that but I am sure we are still capable of good things. Even in '22 I was able to do fastest times and my head wasn't as it is now, so yeah I think we can still be competitive in some rallies.
"The season is really long, there are rallies where we will be competitive I am sure. We can talk about Monte - if it's proper Monte Carlo with mixed conditions, it's not all about cars it's a lot about drivers, so it can be interesting to see."
Rich Millener's view
M-Sport's team principal is right to say that M-Sport has "had faith in Adrien for a long time". He may have been dropped from the Rally1 line-up last year, but he was the only full-time 2022 driver to remain with the team in 2023.
"Last year he took a slightly different direction to go back to Rally2 where he was very successful in WRC and of course the British championship," Millener adds.
"We felt it was always the right time to do that last year so he could step back up to the full team this year."
Fourmaux steps back up to a very different M-Sport team this year, which is without a rally winner let alone a world champion. But like his driver, Millener is sure good results can be snared.
"I don't see any reason why we can't be successful this year, and having a young team - young drivers, we have a lot of young mechanics - that way you can have a very good atmosphere, and a lot of the things that come down to success is down to how the team works together and I think [with] less pressure compared to last year, good atmosphere and a good spirit and we can do very well," he argues.
"We have a bit of an opportunity with so many part-time drivers in the championship. If we can focus on scoring consistently, scoring on every event - that's a lot easier said than done, but getting strong points and results throughout the season... there's going to be a definite fight between Tanak, Neuville and Elfyn.
"Elfyn knows this is probably his best opportunity to win the championship, he was very strong last year but Thierry and Ott in the same team will be a handful, and will be great to watch as well!
"But we need to be realistic about where we are - Adrien's only just got back into this car. He's learned a lot about himself and how to control his drives more than ever last year, and I think he can use that to his strengths.
"And Gregoire we know we can't expect wins or even necessarily podiums at the moment, but we're looking for consistent improvement over the course of the year. And like I said the key is to score consistently.
"We had some reliability issues last year which we're well aware of and there's many things that factored into that - not everybody knows the full details that the team knows and I think we've got ourselves around that. The goal is to give the drivers the best package that we can.
"We thrive off beating the other cars, so I think that's the goal and it's something that's achievable. It won't be easy but we're realistic about where we're going to be."
Fourmaux's own targets
With that said, what would represent a good season for Fourmaux? What would he be happy to have achieved come the end of the year?
"Well I will be happy if we can get no issue with reliability on the car and on the driver," he states.
"For sure there will be an accident in one part of the season. Some people say that if there is no accident in the season you are not fast enough, if there is more than one then you are too fast! So we just need to find the balance.
"For sure I don't want to have any accidents, if we can have no accidents that's the best thing but if you look at Ogier and Thierry and Ott, even the best drivers in the world make mistakes. But it shows that we are fighting with the limit.
"My first plan is just to build up as we did in '23."
That didn't work out too badly for him, did it?
The confidence Fourmaux has fostered in himself, and his team now has in him, gives this writer great confidence in saying that Fourmaux isn't just ready for Rally1. He's ready to perform.
Plenty of others have hogged the limelight from him. Ott Tanak was first with his decision to return to Hyundai after just a year back at M-Sport, but was swiftly followed by Kalle Rovanpera with his bombshell part-time World Rally Championship schedule.
Andreas Mikkelsen then surprised us all when his own return to Hyundai - but more importantly Rally1 - was confirmed.
Even his own team-mate, Gregoire Munster, generated more interest when M-Sport announced its drivers, as his place in the line-up was far from foreseen.
But flying under the radar, playing the role of the dark horse, is just how Adrien Fourmaux likes it.
Maybe that statement hasn't always been true of the Frenchman, but Fourmaux (now 28) has developed into a far different driver, and character, than the one who struggled so publicly in his first full season two years ago.
Standing on the brink of his return to the Ford Puma Rally1, Fourmaux is a man entirely at ease with both his environment and his own abilities as a driver. But more importantly, Fourmaux is now a man that understands how to get the most out of himself.
Learning to control stress
Fourmaux's rise through rallying's ranks was rapid. In just his fourth year behind the wheel he was a regular in the WRC. In his fifth year he was driving a fully-fledged World Rally Car for what turned out to be most of the season after Teemu Suninen suddenly left M-Sport.
His performances earned him a permanent drive in 2022 as the WRC transitioned to hybrid Rally1 technology, but a big crash on Rally Monte Carlo set the tone for a bruising season.
As proved by the quality of his driving back in a Ford Fiesta Rally2 last year, Fourmaux's learned from that. The big question now is whether he can translate his Rally2 form back into Rally1.
The clever money is on yes, given the stark difference in Fourmaux's demeanour on the brink of his next Rally1 season compared to his first.
"Well I'm different because I had two years of rallying," Fourmaux tells Minoia.
"For sure one wasn't as good as the other, but I get more experience of everything; when you are in a bad situation, when you are in a good situation.
"I'm enjoying a lot more than I was enjoying before - to drive and even to share the time that I am sharing today.
"In the past maybe I wasn't really controlling the stress and the pressure you can get from everything," he reveals.
"Now I just manage it and just deal with it so my approach is different on the rallies, but also because I have less mental load I would say, it's much easier for me just to stay focused on my performance and my driving and enjoying it, because at the end we are doing a risky sport so if you don't enjoy it it's pointless."
If Fourmaux is enjoying it more, it stands to reason that his driving will be better. And it appears as if he has learned how to through some deep analysis of his own driving. His comments about controlling his stress levels and the pressure upon his shoulders are fascinating, and in keeping with a character who is very self-aware.
These are all admirable and deceptively important traits for a rally driver.
"Actually I am just enjoying and I am lucky to be back in a Rally1," Fourmaux continues.
"Not so many drivers have done it in the past, or at least just one season back in Rally2, so I can be really happy.
"If I compare with my other team-mates in '22 I'm back compared to them, so I can be pleased."
Where Fourmaux has changed
Drawing comparisons between Fourmaux's 2022 results in a Rally1 car and his 2023 campaign in a Fiesta Rally2 is basically impossible, given the difference in competition and machinery.
But it's obvious he's now a driver reborn. As he explained, he has learned how to compose himself and deal with any pressure, which has in turn had a revolutionary impact on his performances and therefore results.
It's clear the decision to regress to Rally2 was a smart one, and Fourmaux was able to drive 16 rallies (and claim a national championship title) as he built himself back up to the Rally1 pressure-cooker.
He's sure history isn't about to repeat itself as he steps back into a Rally1.
"If you talk about '22 I think it was too early," Fourmaux admits.
"Maybe because I showed too much when I jumped into the WRC car in '21 so then Malcolm [Wilson, M-Sport managing director] says 'yeah you can go for a full season and lead the development of the car' which was really good to be fair for the experience.
"My understanding of the cars is really good because of this and it's really, really nice but for sure I wasn't really prepared... I think maybe it was just one step I had to do.
"It's difficult to say when you are ready, you have to try, but with the team we made a good decision to put me back into Rally2 and now I think I'm ready to go back to Rally1.
"I know we can still be competitive," he adds, "we can still get good results which are maybe better than most expect, so it's really open.
"We will see where we are, there is a new points scoring system to consider also, so for me it's interesting.
"I'm also really different - my approach and how I managed it before I was focused on how to beat the others, now I just beat myself and just enjoy."
Fourmaux's envious position
Elfyn Evans, Thierry Neuville and Ott Tanak all head into the new season with one very clear mission and expectation: to win.
Esapekka Lappi, Andreas Mikkelsen and Dani Sordo have a different but similarly clear objective: to support their championship-chasing Hyundai team-mates.
Adrien Fourmaux? He almost has nothing to lose.
Nobody is outwardly expecting M-Sport to win a rally this year, let alone a championship. That responsibility is left to its rivals Hyundai and Toyota. Fourmaux and his team are the underdogs, which presents an enviable opportunity to impress.
"I think this is maybe our strength," Fourmaux says.
"Nobody expects us to be fighting but we can be there. We can make some good surprise and I think it can also help us to show ourself because maybe in these people's eyes, the young guys with M-Sport we will be in the background but I don't think it will be like this.
"We will see, I don't want to put any pressure on myself for that but I am sure we are still capable of good things. Even in '22 I was able to do fastest times and my head wasn't as it is now, so yeah I think we can still be competitive in some rallies.
"The season is really long, there are rallies where we will be competitive I am sure. We can talk about Monte - if it's proper Monte Carlo with mixed conditions, it's not all about cars it's a lot about drivers, so it can be interesting to see."
Rich Millener's view
M-Sport's team principal is right to say that M-Sport has "had faith in Adrien for a long time". He may have been dropped from the Rally1 line-up last year, but he was the only full-time 2022 driver to remain with the team in 2023.
"Last year he took a slightly different direction to go back to Rally2 where he was very successful in WRC and of course the British championship," Millener adds.
"We felt it was always the right time to do that last year so he could step back up to the full team this year."
Fourmaux steps back up to a very different M-Sport team this year, which is without a rally winner let alone a world champion. But like his driver, Millener is sure good results can be snared.
"I don't see any reason why we can't be successful this year, and having a young team - young drivers, we have a lot of young mechanics - that way you can have a very good atmosphere, and a lot of the things that come down to success is down to how the team works together and I think [with] less pressure compared to last year, good atmosphere and a good spirit and we can do very well," he argues.
"We have a bit of an opportunity with so many part-time drivers in the championship. If we can focus on scoring consistently, scoring on every event - that's a lot easier said than done, but getting strong points and results throughout the season... there's going to be a definite fight between Tanak, Neuville and Elfyn.
"Elfyn knows this is probably his best opportunity to win the championship, he was very strong last year but Thierry and Ott in the same team will be a handful, and will be great to watch as well!
"But we need to be realistic about where we are - Adrien's only just got back into this car. He's learned a lot about himself and how to control his drives more than ever last year, and I think he can use that to his strengths.
"And Gregoire we know we can't expect wins or even necessarily podiums at the moment, but we're looking for consistent improvement over the course of the year. And like I said the key is to score consistently.
"We had some reliability issues last year which we're well aware of and there's many things that factored into that - not everybody knows the full details that the team knows and I think we've got ourselves around that. The goal is to give the drivers the best package that we can.
"We thrive off beating the other cars, so I think that's the goal and it's something that's achievable. It won't be easy but we're realistic about where we're going to be."
Fourmaux's own targets
With that said, what would represent a good season for Fourmaux? What would he be happy to have achieved come the end of the year?
"Well I will be happy if we can get no issue with reliability on the car and on the driver," he states.
"For sure there will be an accident in one part of the season. Some people say that if there is no accident in the season you are not fast enough, if there is more than one then you are too fast! So we just need to find the balance.
"For sure I don't want to have any accidents, if we can have no accidents that's the best thing but if you look at Ogier and Thierry and Ott, even the best drivers in the world make mistakes. But it shows that we are fighting with the limit.
"My first plan is just to build up as we did in '23."
That didn't work out too badly for him, did it?
The confidence Fourmaux has fostered in himself, and his team now has in him, gives this writer great confidence in saying that Fourmaux isn't just ready for Rally1. He's ready to perform.
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