First rally for you with your new colors and straight away a victory against Kalle Rovanperä and Toyota.
“I am obviously very happy with our first rally with the team. Kalle was there and we had a good fight with him throughout the rally, it was a little squabble. In addition, we were able to compare ourselves with equal tires several times during the weekend. He drove a Hankook all the time, and we only drove once in a Pirelli in the first special. Sometimes, I came across slicks/snow, while he was on studs/snow.”
What is your opinion on Hankook tires?
“Frankly, the slicks are good, both the super-soft and the soft, and there is just the rise in temperature of the tires which is not necessarily as fast as the Pirelli. For the snow on the other hand, I'm not very happy. We had to work the old fashioned way by re-cutting the tires at each service to ensure proper operation at the end of the rally. We'll see what they do for Monte-Carlo, but I really hope that we won't have the “basic tires”. On the other hand, Hankook was very open in discussions and very responsive, and that’s a good sign.”
And what did you think of this “Hyundai i20N Rally1 2025”?
“The Hyundai has a lot of potential and I had a blast for two days. At first, I wasn't very happy with the settings, but that's normal for a discovery. It's almost impossible to compare with the Puma, because it was a 2024 while the Hyundai was a 2025. There is no longer a hybrid, 80 kg less, less power or even the absence of regeneration when braking. It's really not the same fund. We started with the basic setup and I adapted the car little by little to my way of driving.”
In addition, you had the chance to meet all the possible conditions of a Monte-Carlo.
“I already had conditions like this in 2019 and 2021 at Monte-Carlo. What's great is that we had all the possible conditions and tested all the tires. For example, we rode with nails on slush (ES1) or with slicks on wet (ES2). In SS2, we made a big gap because Kalle was on snow tires. Between the snow in the morning, the middle of the day on slicks, and ice in the evening, it was really a very interesting rally with the tires.
It's really great and I'm really happy. We will be able to have a peaceful Christmas with already a good base to work from. You also had to become familiar with the different buttons and parts. It was definitely better than a practice session. We also worked with Alex to have a routine with this new team. It was also obviously interesting to compare our performances with Kalle. I had everything to discover, everything to learn, and we beat a guy who is a two-time world champion.”
In some media, we are talking about you as the possible future French world champion. What do you think?
“It's cool that people think so, it means they believe in us and that's definitely positive. Now, it's up to us to be at the level, to make them proud, but once again, we must not skip the steps. There will be so much to discover this year compared to other competitors who are much more experienced with their cars. We've only ridden on one surface so far! I also tell myself that Kalle has never won the Monte-Carlo. At Dévoluy, if I had Sébatsien Ogier, eight times winner of the Monte-Carlo rally, it would have been really something else!”
At this very busy end of the year, you still have a trip to Finland to ride for two days of testing. You don't stop with Alex!
“Since Japan, I think I only saw Alex for 2/3 days! We're going to be able to ride two more days this year and it's obviously not a habit for me to ride that much, so it's really cool. We will discover the car with a dirt chassis and we will drive with 2025 developments which will not yet be on the car at Monte-Carlo.”
Before Dévoluy, you had the opportunity to end your adventure with M-Sport with a victory.
“We finished like big boys with M-Sport! I have no regrets and the story is beautiful. As the team did not have the support of Ford, my choice to go to Hyundai was obvious. Malcolm understood our choice. He was disappointed not to be able to keep us and not to be able to win a title with him, but he was happy for us.”