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The Latvian was sixth overall when he retired. Many of those who saw the crash surely thought Sesks’ rally was over. M-Sport Ford team principal Richard Millener thought the same. “When I looked at the damage to the car and considered how much work it would take to repair it, I wasn’t very hopeful.” “However, the FIA scrutineer said the car’s roll cage had remained intact. I spoke to the guys and we decided that we would try to get the car back into shape.” The team had four hours to get the Puma Rally1 car running again. A total of 14 mechanics worked around the car. The job was made easier by the fact that most of the damage was cosmetic, although some mechanical repairs were also required. “In the end, we got everything finished and still had six minutes to spare. We even had time to take a group photo,” Millener said with a laugh. That allowed Sesks to return on Sunday and compete for Super Sunday and Power Stage points. The story would have been even more remarkable had he been able to set leading times in the car, but the Latvian had to settle for eighth place in both. After the rally, he was full of praise for the team. “They did an absolutely fantastic job. But we were also extremely lucky in the accident itself. After some minor repairs, we were able to drive away from the stage under our own power.” “The wheels were straight. Nothing other than bodywork panels needed replacing. It was a very unfortunate situation for us, but at the same time we were also very lucky,” he said. Mammoth repair jobs have become familiar territory for M-Sport over the years. At Rally Mexico in 2015, Ott Tänak’s Fiesta left the road, plunged down an embankment and sank into a lake. The car disappeared beneath the water within seconds. On that occasion, the mechanics had three hours, but they managed to get the car running again. You can watch the video of the mammoth operation below!