GREECE - M-Sport Ford World Rally Team crews survive another tough and unforgiving edition of Acropolis Rally Greece. Adrien Fourmaux and Alex Coria claim an impressive Power Stage victory after a challenging weekend and take home five points to add to their championship roster.

The French pairing would have an impressive start to the weekend in Greece, setting top times during Friday’s morning loop with incredible pace and precision on the tricky stages. With two consecutive top-five times, followed by second fastest behind Ogier in SS3, Fourmaux would find himself second overall heading into midday service despite carrying an issue with the hybrid system.

But the dream start to the weekend would unfortunately come to a quick end, with the pair damaging the front suspension after clipping a rock on SS4. Despite a good effort from the crew to get the car repaired, time would run out and Fourmaux and Coria were forced to retire for the day.

Returning to the stages on Saturday, Fourmaux would continue to show good pace and add experience of the savage Greek stages to his portfolio. He would set his sights on climbing through the Super Sunday standings, and gaining as many Power Stage points as possible.

A solid drive on Sunday morning gave way to a storming time through the final stage, setting the fastest time by a second over Tänak. Claiming five points from the Power Stage win, plus six from finishing second on Sunday, Fourmaux walks away with a total of 11 points and remains fifth in the championship standings.

Grégoire Munster and Louis Louka had an equally challenging weekend. Staying out of trouble on Friday and Saturday morning, Munster was struggling with the tough conditions and a puncture on Friday afternoon, but slowly climbed the rankings as other crews encountered problems.

Munster would encounter his own problems on Saturday morning, when he would slide wide on a tricky corner, hitting a post and getting stuck off road. Damage to the roll cage as a result unfortunately meant it was not possible to restart the event.

Jourdan Serderidis would also enjoy another appearance on his home rally in Greece with co-driver Fred Miclotte. After a clean drive throughout the weekend, the Greek driver would finish 14th overall and second countryman over the finish line.

Richard Millener, Team Principal, said:
"It's been a great Sunday with Adrien's second Power Stage win of the year, as well as being second overall in Super Sunday points. But I can't help feel disappointed about what could have been this weekend; the pace shown by Adrien on Friday clearly proved he had the performance and talent to fight for an overall podium position. 

"However, once again, Rally Greece showed us quite how hard an event it really is. So, we can be pleased with the outcome considering there were dramas in each team. Now we have a short break before leaving Europe and returning to Chile, where we have Adrien and Grégoire, but also Martins, back in action. It's lining up to be an exciting weekend."
 
Adrien Fourmaux, 21st overall, said:
“It was a frustrating start to the rally, after we were fighting for the top spots in the morning, but then we broke the suspension after hitting a rock. We were then focused totally on Super Sunday to get the maximum points. We got 11 out of 12 available points, including the 5 for the Power Stage.

“We showed some good pace overall, and there has been an incredible atmosphere with all the fans and the really beautiful stages. It was a tough and hot event, and now we have Chile coming up and we want to come back stronger for that.”

Jourdan Serderidis, 14th overall, said:
“14th overall and second Greek driver - we have achieved our best result on Acropolis Rally, while I was the oldest driver on the 70 entries! We had no issues throughout the rally, and we pushed when possible. I’m also very happy to have pleased the Greek fans!”

Grégoire Munster, DNF, said:
“We’re disappointed of course, I think the rally was going well for us despite some small issues on the first day and the punctures. Even on the second day, the pace in the morning was encouraging and then we had this off.

“A small mistake with big consequences, and it’s a shame because the team put a lot of resource into getting the car in the best condition as possible in this really rough event. So to not get a result in the end is a shame. But we can’t rewind, we can just look forward to Chile and put everything in to get a good result there.”