Adrien Fourmaux expressed his frustration after finishing third at Rally Chile, a round of the 2026 World Rally Championship (WRC). The Hyundai driver felt his pace could have delivered a better result, but tyre issues stood in the way.
Throughout the rally, Fourmaux was locked in a close fight for second place. He was third after Friday, but dropped to fourth on Saturday as Toyota's Sebastien Ogier set four fastest stage times to force his way ahead. Entering the final day, Fourmaux was fourth, 12 seconds behind second-placed Toyota driver Elfyn Evans, with Ogier 10.7 seconds ahead.
His pursuit suffered a setback on Sunday morning's long stage when he picked up a slow puncture. He was second-fastest on the stage, but the puncture hindered his chances of launching a proper attack. "It was a really nice stage. I think we could have got back onto Seb's tail, but it is always the same problem with the tyres," he said.
The Frenchman explained that on Saturday he wasn't pushing because he was trying to save the tyres. But on Sunday morning, he decided to go for it. "I thought we would go for it and really try," he added. Unfortunately, the tyres couldn't cope with the pace. "It is really frustrating because I feel we could do so much better," Fourmaux stressed.
Later on Sunday, the tyre situation made his attack even more difficult. "It was a shame that we didn't have any soft tyres left because we had suffered two punctures. That is why we couldn't set a particularly good time on the second pass. In terms of the overall result, though, it didn't matter. That was the stage where we moved back into third place, and that is the most important thing," he explained. Luck came Fourmaux's way when Evans suffered a puncture on the penultimate stage, which was enough to promote him to third.
Nevertheless, Fourmaux saw the positives. "Two podium finishes in South America is not a bad return. I think we deserved more than third place from both rallies, but overall this is still a good reward for all the work the team has done to get us onto the podium. So this is a very positive result," he said.
He also emphasised that Hyundai's pace is promising. "Another positive is that the pace is there, it really is. But now we need to put all the pieces together," Fourmaux concluded. With speed proven, the challenge now is consistency and better tyre management in upcoming rallies.
Baca Juga
Jon Armstrong alami roll di Rally Chile, memperpanjang kesulitannya di WRC. Pembalap M-Sport Ford itu mengakui mobilnya tidak selalu mudah dikendalikan.
Robert Virves juara WRC2 Challenger usai finis kedua di Chile. Kini tinggal finis kelima di Sardinia untuk kunci gelar WRC2, meski Teemu Suninen masih mengintai.
Ali Turkkan juara Junior WRC 2025 setelah finis kedua di Rally Chile, plus trofi Craig Breen. Dapat hadiah empat balapan WRC2 bersama Ford.
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