François Duval
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François Duval (born November 18, 1980) is a Belgian rally driver in the World Rally Championship.
As has proved to characterise the nature of many an eventual frontrunning pilot's earliest professional calling whose homeland were their starting point, victory on four events landed Duval the Belgian Citroen Saxo Challenge title in 1999. Latterly a contender with the Ford team in the World Rally Championship, Duval moved to reigning world champion manufacturers Citroën for 2005 and the chance to drive their Xsara WRC. Unfortunately for Duval, this new partnership arrangement got off to an inauspicious start, leading to an enforced two-rally leave from the cockpit for Duval for the Turkey and Acropolis rallies, ironically to be replaced by the Belgian's idol, double world champion and immediate Citroën predecessor, Carlos Sainz.
By latter 2005, however, the Belgian appeared to be recovering his verve. After an initially tentative return, he was to storm to second place on the Rally Deutschland barred from victory only by all-conquering world champion team-mate Sébastien Loeb. He added a fine second place finish on the Wales Rally GB, somewhat ill-starred by the fatal accident that befell erstwhile Ford team-mate Markko Martin's navigator, Michael Park. Then, at the 2005 Telstra Rally Australia, Duval won his first top-tier World Rally Championship event, ahead of Harri Rovanpera and Manfred Stohl.
The immediate forecast for the Belgian's future remained clouded, however, with Citroën poised for a one-year formal sabbatical from the series. Although 2005 team-mate and double-time champion Sébastien Loeb could revel in the luxury of a contract with the privateer Kronos outfit for all of 2006's world rallies, as well as a testing package within the rejuvenated factory-backed Citroen C4 WRC, Duval proved unable of sustaining a link to either organisation. Sporadic stints in a privately run Skoda Fabia WRC formed the platform of his 2006 World Rally Championship campaign, with a best finish of 6th in Spain. Only two other top ten finishes were achieved all year, namely on the Italian and Turkish rounds, notwithstanding a late-season triumph in the same apparatus on his native Condroz Rally in November.
According to British motorsport publication Autosport over the last few months, the Belgian's attentions have since turned pushing for a less peripheral role in the series in 2007, with funding requiring to be stumped up should he opt for the Kronos team as mooted.
