Matthew Wilson has taken his Ford Fiesta RS WRC back to basics in an effort to improve on his asphalt pace in Rallye de France this week.
The M-Sport Stobart Ford driver admitted he struggled to find a comfortable setup with the Fiesta on Rallye Deutschland, finishing the German event in 11th place. Wilson has shunned the latest specification suspension settings in favor of a setup which suits him best for this week's Alsace rally.
"It is back to basics for me," said Wilson. "We've gone a few steps backward on the dampers, nearly to the start of how the car was. I knew how the car felt on those dampers, I did testing and I have driven the car in this specification. It's a more simple damper which is easier to read over the bumps and will give me more confidence if the roads get really muddy or dirty."
Having tested the Fiesta RS WRC in its early incarnation, Wilson hasn't completed as much recent pre-rally running in the ever-improving Ford.
"I haven't kept up with the recent evolutions of damper in testing," he said. "I ran with the latest suspension in Germany, but I couldn't find the feeling with them. Hopefully, taking the car back a little bit will help us with the speed this week."