Latvian rally driver Mārtiņš Sesks has secured a two-round WRC Rally1 deal with M-Sport Ford.
Sesks will compete with an M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 at the Rally Poland and Rally Latvia, his home event, WRC rounds.
The 24-year-old won both Rally Poland and Rally Latvia (Liepāja) last year when both events were rounds of the ERC (European Rally Championship). He finished in P2 in last year’s ERC.
For Rally Poland, Sesks will make his Rally1 debut with a non-hybrid Ford Puma Rally1 in Poland, before moving to the Puma Rally1 with a hybrid unit on his home event.
Sesks: ‘It is a dream come true’
“I am sincerely grateful, as it is a dream come true to join forces with the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team and WRC Promoter for this remarkable opportunity to advance from Rally2 to Rally1 level. I must admit, it takes saying it twice to fully believe that we will soon be competing alongside the world’s most elite drivers with Rally1 machinery,” Sesks said.
Sesks’ Rally1 debut is supported by WRC Promoter: “We identified the need to put more resources into supporting the next generation of potential WRC world champions and assisting them in making the challenging step from the support categories to our sport’s highest echelon,” said WRC Promoter’s Senior Director of Sport, Peter Thul.
The non-hybrid Rally Poland entry will be the first Rally1 entry without the hybrid unit. The FIA allowed, thanks to a regulation change for 2024, for Rally1 cars to enter events without a hybrid unit. Ballast of around 100 kg will be added to the non-hybrid Rally1 cars to compensate for the weight lost by removing the plug-in hybrid unit.
Photo: Red Bull Content Pool