“I never told anyone until now that it was…” — Adrien Fourmaux breaks 18-year silence on rumour that is tearing apart the WRC

Adrien Fourmaux’s Hidden Truth Surfaces Just as the World Rally Championship Begins to Crack

For nearly two decades, Adrien Fourmaux has raced in the shadows of rally legends. Often seen as a reliable driver with flashes of brilliance, the Frenchman’s career has been marked by more questions than answers. Why was he always “almost there” but never quite in the elite? Why did M-Sport Ford place their faith in him so stubbornly, despite inconsistent results? Why did every conversation about his potential seem to stall just as it started to bloom?

And now, the entire World Rally Championship has an answer to a question it didn’t even realize it had been asking.

Because what Fourmaux said this week in Portugal, just ahead of the next brutal leg of the WRC season, didn’t just shake the walls of the media center. It sent shockwaves through every corner of the paddock.

In an exclusive, emotional confession during a late-night interview aired on Canal+, Adrien Fourmaux finally opened up. His voice shook. His hands trembled. And when the words left his mouth, there was no taking them back. “I never told anyone until now that it was me…”

That was all it took. Sixteen simple words that ended 18 years of silence — and revealed a secret that is now tearing the WRC apart.

A Childhood Mistake That Could Reshape Rallying Forever

The rumor has existed in corners of the rally world for nearly two decades — a mystery crash, a missing junior car, and a freak mechanical failure in the south of France in 2007 that resulted in one of the most promising young rally prospects walking away from the sport forever.

Back then, no names were released. The FIA ruled the incident “non-competitive,” and due to the junior driver’s age, no formal charges were filed. But among insiders, a quiet theory persisted: someone tampered with the car. Someone barely a teenager. Someone who had no idea how far-reaching the consequences would be.

The incident led to a safety overhaul in junior rally car engineering and changed the FIA’s supervision procedures at the grassroots level. But the identity of the individual behind the act — accidental or not — was never revealed.

Until now.

In the Canal+ interview, Fourmaux, now 30, finally broke down and admitted that he had been the anonymous youth responsible.

At the time, he was just 12 years old and completely unsupervised in the service area of a regional French rally his father was spectating. Fascinated by the machinery, he had sneaked into the paddock, and out of pure curiosity, he fiddled with the car’s handbrake mechanism. Unbeknownst to him, he had disconnected part of the car’s hydraulic line, which later failed at speed — leading to a crash that ended the career of a 17-year-old junior driver permanently.

Fourmaux’s voice cracked as he recounted the memory. “It was innocent. It was stupid. I didn’t know. I had no idea. But when I saw the crash on TV later that day… I knew. I knew I did something. And I’ve lived with that every day since.”

For 18 years, Fourmaux carried this burden. And now, finally speaking it aloud, he has set off a moral and political earthquake in rallying.

Because this confession doesn’t just reopen an old case. It forces the FIA, M-Sport, and the wider rally community to ask whether a driver who has carried such a secret for so long can — or should — continue at the highest level of the sport.

The Paddock Reacts: Shock, Sympathy, and a Split That Could Destroy Trust in the FIA

The confession, which aired just hours before the shakedown in Portugal, spread like wildfire.

WRC fans, journalists, engineers, and former drivers were glued to their screens. Social media lit up with hashtags like #FourmauxConfession, #WRCSecret, and #HeNeverToldAnyone.

Inside the paddock, the response was split. Some called it brave. Others called it manipulative. Many simply didn’t know how to feel.

Thierry Neuville was one of the first to respond,g, I respect the honesty. But this isn’t just about him. There’s a family out there who lost everything that day. That’s not something you can just apologize for.”

Meanwhile, Kalle Rovanperä, known for his thoughtful, measured responses, struck a more understandinge: He was a kid. A kid who didn’t know better. But I don’t think we should punish someone forever for something they did at 12 years old.”

The real storm, however, is brewing inside the FIA.

Officials are now being questioned not just about how they handled the 2007 incident but about whether they knew all along who was responsible. Rumors are now circulating that Fourmaux’s identity may have been quietly known to certain figures in French rallying circles for years — possibly even protected, to safeguard his future in the sport.

If proven true, it would be one of the biggest cover-ups in the history of the WRC.

Already, multiple WRC insiders are calling for an independent investigation into how much the FIA, M-Sport, and even French motorsport officials may have known — and whether Fourmaux was fast-tracked or shielded in his career as a result.

What Happens Now? A Future on the Edge and a Championship in Chaos

In a cruel twist of irony, Adrien Fourmaux is currently enjoying one of the most competitive seasons of his career. With Ott Tänak struggling for consistency and Neuville under immense pressure, Fourmaux had emerged as an unexpected dark horse for the 2025 WRC title.

But now, everything is in jeopardy.

Already, sources close to M-Sport Ford say the team is holding emergency meetings to determine whether Fourmaux will be allowed to continue racing. Sponsors are nervous. Legal advisors are involved. And the FIA, while refusing to comment, is rumored to be drafting a formal response to the confession.

There is also pressure from within the paddock to reopen the 2007 case, not as a punitive measure against Fourmaux necessarily, but to provide long-overdue answers to the family of the driver whose career was cut short.

And perhaps most hauntingly, fans are now combing through Fourmaux’s entire career, wondering how much of it was built on a foundation of guilt.

Every mistake, every triumph, every radio message filled with nerves — was he carrying the weight of this secret the whole time?

More than one analyst has already asked, did guilt drive Fourmaux to race, or did it stop him from reaching his full potential?

No matter the answer, one thing is certain — the 2025 WRC season will never be the same.

And neither will Adrien Fourmaux.

Because now the truth is out. And once it is, you can never put it back.

Not after 18 years.