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M-Sport Ford World #rally Team stars #gusgreensmith and #teemusuninen have shown great speed but suffered misfortune on the opening day of #rally Italia Sardegna, where they tackled twisty, technical gravel stages in their EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta WRCs.
Friday's first leg, held in up to 30 degree heat, saw a morning loop of two stages - the 22.29 km Filigosu and 14.36 km Terranova – run twice apiece. For Suninen and co-driver Mikko Markkula, returning to the #wrc team after leading M-Sport's WRC2 campaign on the two previous rounds, drama struck all too soon.
At the 20.5 km mark on SS1, the Finn rolled his Ecoboost-powered Ford Fiesta #wrc onto its side. Although the car was rolled back onto its wheels successfully, it proved impossible to restart the car and it was retired for the day.
Greensmith, meanwhile, took a steady start on the morning loop and built his pace while establishing a rapport with his new co-driver for this #event, Stuart Loudon. The 24-year-old Englishman showed great maturity in refusing to be flustered as he found his way towards the sweet spot in his car's handling, then began to push towards a strong seventh place at the mid-day service.
The afternoon loop would bring two more passes through a pair of short and technical stages, the 12.08 km Tempio Pausania and 14.97 km Erula.
Greensmith's pace continued to gain momentum throughout the afternoon, setting fifth fastest time on the penultimate stage of the day and proving once again the potential of the Ford Fiesta #wrc at the elite level of rallying.
Unfortunately a transmission issue at the start of the final stage of the day, forced Greensmith to pull off the road after 2 km. Both of the #msport Ford World #rally Team stars will restart on Saturday under #rally 2 rules.
In WRC2, #adrienfourmaux returned to the EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta Rally2 in which he contested the early rounds of the year, buoyed by his stellar performances in the main #wrc team on the last two events in Croatia and Portugal.
The young Frenchman, co-driven by Belgian Renaud Jamoul, started strongly and set the second-fastest time through the opening stage of the day.
Sadly, Fourmaux's charge ended too soon after suffering suspension damage on SS2, obliging him to retire from the rest of the day's action. Nevertheless, his Ford Fiesta was returned to the service park where #msport effected repairs and Fourmaux will restart under SuperRally rules on Saturday.
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