“FOURMAUX SHOULD BE ‘MORE REALISTIC’ AT TIMES”: HYUNDAI BOSS BELIEVES HIS DRIVER COULD BE MORE PATIENT AND REALISTIC AHEAD RE-SIGN NEW CONTRACT!

Adrien Fourmaux needs to learn to be “a bit more realistic” in certain situations, according to his boss Cyril Abiteboul.
Fourmaux joined Hyundai from M-Sport Ford for 2025 and immediately impressed on his first outing, beating Kalle Rovanperä at December’s Rallye Hivernal du Dévoluy.

That form continued into the World Rally Championship season with third place at the Monte Carlo Rally, but Sweden and Safari Rally Kenya were more complicated for Fourmaux.

Initially fighting at the front in Sweden, Fourmaux dropped back when he stopped early on the 11th stage to fasten his helmet strap, and then was out altogether when he ran wide and was sucked into a snowbank two stages later.

Fourmaux’s Safari meanwhile barely even got going, as an electrical problem left him stranded on the way to the second stage. Returning on Friday, he then picked up a puncture on the afternoon’s first test and elected not to stop and change it, stopping later on the stage with broken suspension.

While Fourmaux’s turn of speed has been obvious – and further evidenced by collecting all 10 points on Sunday in Kenya with a powerstage and Super Sunday win – Hyundai Motorsport president and team principal Abiteboul believes he could still learn to be a bit more patient when things have gone against him.

“I think yeah indeed Adrien needs also to learn a bit of… become a bit more realistic about certain circumstances,” Abiteboul said.

“In Sweden, when he basically lost some time due to his helmet situation and was probably willing to recover a bit too quickly from that. Same thing in Safari on the tires, being probably a bit too optimistic in thinking that he could go to the end of the stage [without stopping to change it].

“Frankly, it’s OK. I think it’s OK. We need to move on from that and now dust ourselves off, make sure that we, you know, be patient, keep our head down, stay calm, stay focused.

“I think he has what it takes to be a great driver and to help us fulfil our mission for this year.”

Is Abiteboul right?

Fourmaux has driven for Abiteboul for three WRC rallies

One of Fourmaux’s key weaknesses during his first Rally1 season in 2022 was his almost desperation to be fast immediately.

In other words, he displayed a lack of patience.

What he proved beyond question upon his M-Sport Rally1 return last year was that he had learned. With the exception of Central European Rally where he looked really quite disgruntled at times with a car he wasn’t happy with, Fourmaux proved he could keep his head and manage his pace as well as he could produce it.

At speed he looks completely in control, in a way he didn’t always in years previous. His brave slick tire gamble at the Monte on the final day was the perfect proof.

But it’s hard to disagree with Abiteboul that the Swedish retirement, in particular, was avoidable.

It’s impossible to know if Fourmaux would have made that same mistake in Sweden had he not lost all the time with his helmet misdemeanor. But his stage win on the test before is proof enough that he was pushing hard, and he looked like a driver desperate to atone for his mishap.

Fourmaux enjoyed a flawless Monte but made a mistake in Sweden

Kenya is harder to read, given just how punishing this year’s rally was. But as Fourmaux had already dropped 10 minutes due to missing stage two the previous day, it’s valid to question why he didn’t err on the side of caution.

Although having said that, Fourmaux’s description of events does correlate with the available onboard footage.

“We had a puncture, which I don’t know why we got it,” Fourmaux told DirtFish. “And then it was a slow one, so the tire was deflating progressively. We were still on the rubber, it was fine.

“But then at some point we went into some fech-fech, and there was a rock that I couldn’t see. And then I hear, and I feel a big impact, and I was like, ‘oh, this is not good’.

“And 1km after, the car felt strong, and then after that, it broke the steering arm, and then it was all over.”

The impact did not appear to be massive, so would it have caused so much damage if the tire had been fully inflated? We’ll never know. But on balance, it is fair to give Fourmaux the benefit of the doubt for that one.

Abiteboul’s observation of his driver is difficult to disagree with, though. Keeping himself measured when things have gone awry is perhaps one of the few areas Fourmaux can still improve.

We’re splitting hairs here however. As Abiteboul himself said, Fourmaux “has what it takes to be a great driver”. But I would go one further and say he already is a great driver, just not yet the ultimate one.