Duval shows great maturity

Ford's young Belgian driver Francois Duval gave the Focus WRC02 a magical send off by claiming a career best result on the Rally of Turkey on Sunday, becoming the youngest driver ever to step onto the podium at 22 years old. Meanwhile, Markko Martin battled back to finish sixth.

Ford Rallye Sport's points haul on such a tough event enhanced the reputation of the Focus as a strong and dependable car which thrives in rugged conditions. It was the car's 17th consecutive finish in the points and a fitting end to the career of the 2002 Focus RS WRC which will be replaced by the 2003 model on round four in New Zealand next month.

However, that performance of the rally must be that of Duval, claiing his best result despite the presence of a new co-driver in Stéphane Prévot. "Team director Malcolm Wilson told me this morning to continue driving as I have been all rally and that's what I did," said Duval.

"I drove to avoid the rocks and the Focus has again been perfect today," he added. "I felt very relaxed until the final two stages when I became quite nervous. It helped when Carlos, who was my team mate last year, came up to me before the final stage and told me to keep calm and take no risks. He's been under pressure so many times in his career that there's nobody better to receive advice from.

"Before the start my aim was to finish but it was just as important to build a good relationship with Stéphane on our first rally. We worked well together and I'm as pleased about that as I am about the result," concluded Duval.

Märtin recovered superbly after a broken shaft in the gearbox cost 3min 30sec early on the opening day. Despite a poor road position for the entire rally, which left his Focus RS running close to the head of the field and inadvertently sweeping the loose gravel clear for the benefit of those behind, he set two fastest stage times after charging back up the leaderboard from 12th position.

"We made no mistakes and proved ourselves to be very competitive here even with a bad road position, but we lost too much time on the first leg to have a better result. I think we've done a good job. We've driven carefully and kept out of trouble and I'm happy to be fourth in the championship. I would give us nine out of 10! I've enjoyed a really good 16 rallies with this Focus and I'm now hoping that the 2003 car will be faster and just as reliable. The signs are good."