Sesks To Make WRC History

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team is prepared to welcome its newest members, Mārtiņš Sesks and Renārs Francis, to the Rally1 squad on Orlen Rally Poland next week. The Latvian pairing will debut the first appearance of the non-hybrid Puma Rally1

Sesks will make history by driving the first non-hybrid Rally1 in the WRC since the introduction of the cars in 2022. Carrying 100kg of ballast weight in lieu of the hybrid unit, Sesks will have the chance to adapt to the Puma in Poland before upgrading to full hybrid for his home rally in Latvia in a few weeks’ time.

He will benefit from a strong knowledge of Poland; having competed on three previous editions of Rally Poland as part of the FIA European Rally Championship, including claiming the win on last year’s edition, the Latvian driver will make use of this to support his step-up to Rally1 machinery.

Mārtiņš Sesks said:

‍“I’m really excited to be back competing in Poland! We have some great memories here, especially after winning the ERC round last year! For sure this year is a completely different game, this will be our first event in a Rally1 car. The testing we did last week was something incredible, and a completely different experience to anything I’ve done before! The car reacts so quickly, and how fast it goes round corners is just so unique and indescribable to anyone who hasn’t driven the car.“It will be a big challenge to get up to speed, but this is the goal for Poland. We will be driving non-hybrid to get use to the aerodynamics of the car, get to know the team and to get more and more ready to be in good shape for Latvia. The goal is to get the mileage, finish the rally and learn as much as we can.”