M-Sport Ford’s Gus Greensmith has said he will not risk solid overall results on future rallies just to score his maiden WRC stage win.
The Brit turned in a much more assured performance in Portugal following the switch to new co-driver Chris Patterson and looked to be in with the chance of a podium before persistent technical issues and a puncture slowed him.
Eventually finishing fifth, Greensmith was irritated by the misfortune but it did show him that the first stage win may not be too far away, but there was a bigger picture.
“It’s quite irritating,” he said. “We were close to winning a couple of stages, so it’s something I’m keen to get done. But the main thing for Sardinia is to be consistently in the top five. The overall finish is the most important thing and I won’t sacrifice that by chasing a stage win.”
Greensmith also had the backing of M-Sport Managing Director Malcolm Wilson, who was impressed by what he saw in Portugal and said: “That was his best performance, no question. He had a small engine problem and without that I think he would have been fighting for the podium.”
“What we’re seeing with Gus is a more relaxed approach now. Chris Patterson, his new co-driver has helped that, he’s been the catalyst for this progress. In previous events we’ve seen Gus struggle a little bit on the first stage – but look at Portugal: fourth quickest. It was great to see.”
