Duval aiming to return on Rallye de France

Francois Duval is hoping to start Rallye de France in six week’s time, despite a crash on Rallye Deutschland that left him with a bruised back and his co-driver with two broken ribs.

The Belgian rolled his Stobart team Ford Focus near the end of the 48km Panzerplatte test on Saturday, but said the experience had not affected his plans to make a comeback to the WRC series after two years away.

Duval began Rallye Deutschland with an impressive track record on asphalt rallies, but his chances of a good result this week took a dive when he picked up a broken driveshaft on stage 3. But in a blog update on wrc.com, Duval said he had taken plenty of positives from the rally and had been encouraged by his speed on some stages.

“Two years away from the WRC is a long time to be off but I feel I still have the speed to compete with the best drivers. When the car was going well my times were good. In fact on the first pass though the Panzerplatte I was the fastest Ford driver. So I’m still going to try and do more rallies this year,” he said.

“I’m working with my sponsors to try and put together two more Ford drives in France and Spain. So if things go well I hope my next rally will be in about six week’s time. My back feels a bit sore today, and Denis [Giraudet, co-driver] has two broken ribs, but we’ll both be okay for that.”