Twice French Rally Champion, in 2013 and 2014, Julien Maurin made the WRC2 his main objective this season. With his Ford Fiesta RCC, fitted with shock absorbers prepared by PKM Consulting, the French driver has shown his high level of performance in the Rally Monte Carlo, first round of the championship. However he had to withdraw though he was within the Top 3.

Having posted three best lap times during the second stage, Julien Maurin and co-driver Nicolas Klinger were the best performers at the beginning of the third day of the Rally Monte Carlo. Cautious throughout the first stages, the two men picked up momentum and firmly settled in the WRC2 class’ Top 3, second best class in the WRC. Encountering a mechanical problem during the eighth special stage, Julien and Nicolas were just about to come back amongst the three leaders when they had to withdraw in the SS10: a couple of kilometers away from the finish line, the driver of the No. 36 Ford Fiesta got caught in a narrow turn, on ice, and remained trapped in the snow.

Though it’s a disappointing outcome, Julien Maurin has once again showed the fast driver he is on board of the Ford Fiesta RCC with shock absorbers prepared and monitored by PKM Consulting. There’s no doubt that he will get going again in the next round in Portugal. The objective remains unchanged: to clinch a title in the very competitive WRC2 class.

“I’m obviously very disappointed” Julien Maurin confides. “We were the best WRC2 performers at that point of the rally, just when we had decided to be cautious and not to take too many risks. That shows how competitive we were. Our strategy was the right one, choices of tyres were good too, they delivered well, and the team also did a great job. It’s annoying to have to give up like that, all the more as we were regaining time in this special stage. Beyond the disappointment regarding the result itself, we’re also missing out on some important points in the WRC2 classification. We’ve already played our wildcard. We’ll have to score a lot next round. There’s clearly potential. It’s our job now to capitalise on our performance here.”