The final seats for the 2020 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) season have been announced by M-Sport today. Esapekka Lappi, Teemu Suninen and Gus Greensmith will pilot three M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRCs in a team that’s young and ambitious for the season ahead.
Lappi and co-driver Janne Ferm last competed in a Ford Fiesta in 2012, but return to the Blue Oval team as proven WRC rally winners. Leading the team for 2020, 29-year-old Lappi’s 55 WRC starts, 41 stage wins and 7 podium finishes shows his raw speed behind the steering wheel.
Lappi said of his new seat: “I’m really looking forward to this new adventure and I’m excited to see what we can achieve. M‑Sport Ford has a real passion for rally and there were a lot of talented drivers available for this seat, so I’m very happy they put their trust in us – giving myself and Janne an opportunity to show what we can do in 2020.”
Teemu Sunninen and co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen mark the first time an all-Finnish line-up has lead the team since Mikko Hirvonen partnered Jari-Matti Latvala from 2008 to 2011. Suninen (26) heads into his second full year in the top flight of rallying and the Flying Finns for 2020 will be looking forward to bring Team Principal Richard Millener podiums finishes and trophies.
Suninen said: “I’m really grateful to Malcolm and the team for their belief in me. I feel as though I learnt a lot over the past 12 months, and I’m looking forward to seeing what Jarmo and I can do in 2020. Last year taught me that I need to give everything in all of the rallies if I want to reach the top results – and that’s what I hope to do this year.”
Competing in nine rounds of the 2020 WRC season, Gus Greensmith (24) has only three WRC starts to his name, but has shown great promise with his speed. He and co-drover Elliott Edmondson will contest rallies in Monte Carlo, Mexico, Argentina, Portugal, Sardinia, Finland, Turkey, Germany and Wales.
Said Greensmith at the announcement: “I have been waiting for this opportunity my whole life, and now I have it. I’ve progressed through M-Sport Ford’s, ‘Ladder of Opportunity,’ from R1, to R2, to R5 and now WRC. I owe a lot to everyone at M-Sport and Ford who has helped me progress as a driver, but there is still a lot more to come. The team may be young, but we’re all ultra-competitive and together I’m sure we can deliver some strong performances.”
The team begins their pre-season testing next week, with the first round of the 2020 World Rally Championship starting on 23 January with Rallye Monte-Carlo.
