Ford to include Duval in Germany test programme

1st August 2010

By Richard Rodgers

Malcolm Wilson expects Francois Duval to play a key role in Ford’s Rallye Deutschland assault later this month.

Duval, a former factory driver for the Blue Oval is making a one-off return to the WRC in a works-blessed Focus run by M-Sport.

He will take part in Ford’s pre-event test in Germany and Wilson hopes he will spur on current factory pilots Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala.

“I think he should very quickly be able to get on the pace of [Hirvonen and Latvala],” said Wilson. “If he gets a good test and good confidence then he can do okay. We’re going to include him in the testing for sure because we want to try and give him as much seat time as we possibly can.”

Ford is planning a six-day test in Germany, running on the vineyard roads and the military ranges that characterise the asphalt event.