Adrien Fourmaux has enjoyed a speedy rise to the top of the motorsport world, and he now aims to replicate the successes of veteran French rally drivers Sebastien Ogier and Sebastien Loeb.
As a four-year-old, Adrien, like many boys his age, would be driving his toy cars. His love for motorsport blossomed as he grew older, with his parents’ subscription to the Automobile Magazine fuelling his knowledge of cars.
“I knew everything about the cars, like the power, the transmission, how many gears, the price of the cars, etc. I was really interested in cars,” he told the Safaricom Newsroom in an interview after he had rested and gone back home after the 2024 Safari Rally.
He was a teen spectator at Rally Monte Carlo in 2012, going on to eventually get a driving license and then going under the wing of the French Federation of Automobile Sport.
Five years later, he left the university, where he was a fourth-year Medicine student, to fully chase his rally dream. He made a splash in his WRC2 debut in Rally Monte Carlo in 2019, and two years later, Adrien enjoyed a fairytale debut as a WRC1 driver with a fifth-place finish in Rally Croatia.
“That was a dream coming true because, in four and a half years, I went from nowhere to the highest level in the rally,” reminisced Adrien.
From the highs of his debut season, Adrien had to endure a nightmare start to his second season in the WRC1. Three crashes in the first four legs of the 2022 season led the M-Sport team to drop Adrien back down to WRC2 for the 2023 season.
Passionate and needing to show his fast rise was not a fluke, Adrien secured a seat in the WRC1 M-Sport Ford team for the 2024 season. He has repaid his team principal with two back-to-back podiums in the first three legs of the World Rally Championship, the second of which was over the Easter weekend in Kenya.
“I am really pleased. I am also surprised. I did not expect to be doing a podium back-to-back. After Sweden, I was like, maybe we’ll take quite a long time to get to another podium. And then after that, we get one in Kenya, so it’s really good,” he said.
The Safari Rally ranks among the world’s most competitive and gruelling rallies, yet Adrien bagged his first-ever WRC stage win at the Safari Rally in 2021 and secured a third-place finish in 2024. How did he unlock the secrets?
“When I go to a new rally, I engage the locals. So, when I came to Kenya, I spoke to one of the Safari Rally veterans, and they told me that if you take care of your car for the first three days and if all is okay with your car, then now you can. It may be possible to have a push on the last day. This is what I did in 2021, and since then, I have tried to keep the same approach,” he said.
Adrien’s meticulous approach to rallying is evident in his insights into the life of a rally driver. While not typical athletes, rally drivers still have to take care of their body and mind.
Nutrition is a key aspect, especially given that the WRC circuit legs are held in different countries. The rally drivers ease themselves into the local cuisine while also sticking mostly to what they are used to.
Since the drivers lose a lot of fluids when cooped up in the rally car, water becomes a key component, with the drivers taking upwards of 6 litres a day to replenish.
A rally weekend comprises four days, with the drivers expected to be switched on during the competitive stages, which are interrupted by the transport stages, and so drivers must train themselves on mental concentration to be able to focus.
In the gym, a rally driver focuses on back muscles due to the duration spent seated and on leg muscles since they press the brake at least 1,000 times in a rally.
Veteran French drivers Sebastien Loeb and Sebastien Ogier, who hold a total of 17 WRC titles between them, are inspirations to Adrien, who is the new kid on the block.
“I think as a French driver, I would like to win 10 championships. Because if I do 10, I will be ahead of the two Sebs. Ogier has eight, and Loeb has nine. For sure I will be pleased to do that. But to win 10 first, you need to win one, so for now, I’m focused on one, and then we’ll see about the rest,” says Adrien.
Ahead of the 2024 Safari Rally, Adrien signed a sponsorship deal with M-PESA Global worth KES20 million. The deal allows the driver’s car and kit to display the M-PESA brand for the remainder of the year, and he is excited about the partnership.
“It’s good to have M-PESA sponsorship. Also, it’s nice for my heart because I really like Kenya, and to know that we are sponsored by a Kenyan company, I’m really pleased. I will keep it in my heart across the world. It’s an honour for me,” he said.
Adrien was ranked 17th in the Croatia Rally, which was held between April 18th and 21st. After four of a planned 13 legs of the WRC circuit, Adrien sits third, 59 points behind championship leader Thierry Neuville and Elyfn Evans.
