Martins Sesks will be competing in his third rally in the World Rally Championship with M-Sport Ford in Chile.
The Latvian finished second in the European Rally Championship last season, collecting two wins and four podiums. Sesks had been competing in the series in 2024, but that was put to an abrupt halt as M-Sport handed him his WRC debut at Rally Poland.
M-Sport’s managing director Malcolm Wilson admitted thinking the ‘pressure would bury’ Sesks on his debut, but the 25-year-old immediately impressed. On his first-ever stage, he finished in second and went on to finish the event fifth overall.
Sesks was given a second outing in the Ford Puma Rally1 car for his home event in Latvia, and he was even more impressive than in Poland. The 25-year-old grabbed his first stage wins at stages three and four and was keeping up with Sebastien Ogier and Kalle Rovanpera for much of the rally.
Unfortunately, the Latvian suffered a technical issue at the power stage and was denied what could have been a maiden WRC podium. Finishing seventh overall, M-Sport were keen to get Sesks back into the car at some point in the season.
Martins Sesks left stunned by Rally Chile course after Thursday’s shakedown
Now, the team have given Sesks that chance as he will run in the third car for Rally Chile alongside Adrien Fourmaux and Gregoire Munster.
READ MORE: Elfyn Evans surprised by why WRC Rally Chile has ‘a similar character’ to Wales Rally GB
While Thursday’s shakedown is nothing to go by in terms of the end result, especially when many of the drivers were saving their tyres for the rally itself, Sesks went second fastest, 3.2 seconds behind the table topper Rovanpera.
Chile is hosting its third event in the WRC, with the previous two events in 2019 and 2023 being won by Ott Tanak who is looking to create history again at the event this year.
Being his first time running in the event, speaking after his lap around the course in the shakedown, Sesks was left stunned by the sheer speed of the event.
“It’s not fair it’s that fast! It’s so fast!” he said.
“I haven’t been more than a month in this car. It’s like, from the acceleration point, you drive and you’re like, your eyes are a bit like, you’re dizzy for the first kilometres really.”
When asked about what he expected from the weekend, he replied: “Rich [Millener, M-Sport team principal] told [me] that I have to make good stage-end interviews, so that’s one of the things. Other than [that] he said, if you feel good in the car then you can drive faster.”
Martins Sesks is eyeing a full-time WRC seat in 2025
Sesks is hoping for a trouble-free race in Chile in what will be his final outing in the WRC this season.
READ MORE: Cyril Abiteboul outlines what’s ‘imperative’ for Hyundai to win the WRC title
The Latvian is eyeing a potential full-time seat at M-Sport in 2025, with the team yet to confirm their driver line-up for next season.
Munster is competing in his first full season in the WRC and is enduring a difficult time with just one top-five finish all season. Fourmaux is being linked with a move to Hyundai, with the Frenchman sat fifth in the standings heading into Chile.
Sesks’ performances have stood out and have proven his ability in such a short amount of time. The Latvian will be one to keep an eye on in the coming months.