The World Rally Championship has a habit of creating surreal stories that are unique in motorsport, as Adrien Fourmaux has experienced after a surprise at-home family lunch in Croatia.
An image of Hyundai driver Fourmaux and co-driver Alex Coria sat at a dining table in race suits, eating lunch with a family last Saturday is likely to become one of the images of the season given its unusual nature.
It’s not very often a family welcomes a top level driver for lunch at their home during an event, turning this moment into a viral social media hit. You could be forgiven for thinking the image was photoshopped – but this was very much reality for Fourmaux and Coria.
It certainly wasn’t in Fourmaux’s plan for the day, but it was what unfolded after an impact with a telegraph pole in stage 12 ended his hopes of a top five finish. The incident just happened to be near the residence of a French family that offered the clearly upset and frustrated driver and co-driver hospitality with the offer of lunch.
Adrien Fourmaux, Alexandre Coria, Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1
Photo by: Hyundai Motorsport
“We met some French people who had a holiday house just in this corner, but the family came from Croatia. The grandparents come from Croatia and then they went to France, and the kids were born in France,” explains Fourmaux.
“I think it was our destiny. The two sons are both French, but the funny thing is one lives in Lille like me, and the other lives in Montpellier like Alex. For me that was destiny, we had to stop there and have lunch with them. I think it was written before the stage. The family helped us as we were putting all our stuff in their house.
“It was really nice hospitality and it was a pleasure to spend this time with them. I would prefer not but it was like that. They planned to have a nice lunch and they had two extra seats and we were sharing it with them so we had a nice moment for two hours.
“I think that is part of the rally experience you have with this sport. We can only thank the fans for that, and they are the greatest fans in the world.”
Rally Croatia a race to forget
Adrien Fourmaux, Alexandre Coria, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1
Photo by: Hyundai
While grateful for the hospitality, Fourmaux admitted that the rally from a competitive side was one to forget.
Fourmaux found himself already on the backfoot after suffering a puncture in stage two, losing 1m28.0s. There was hope of salvaging a haul of points on Sunday after Saturday’s crash, but a puncture on the final stage left him with just two points from the weekend.
“We had a puncture on SS2 which was quite difficult to accept at the time, but then after that we saw things were happening in front, so we we’re confident we could still get some good points, but then I made a very small mistake with a big consequence,” he said.
“I’m very frustrated with what happened yesterday [Saturday], that is the main thing and I’m sorry for the team for Thierry [after his crash from the lead on the final stage].
“I tried to get some extra points on Sunday but we had a puncture on the Power Stage which was very unlucky, so it is a very sad weekend. I hope the Canary Islands round will be better.”
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– The Autosport.com Team
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