M-Sport Ford team leader Grégoire Munster says he’s taken valuable lessons from a challenging Rally Sweden – insights he plans to use to sharpen his pace aboard the Puma Rally1.

The 26-year-old finished eighth in Umeå, marking his lowest WRC result since Secto Rally Finland last August. A tough start left him struggling for outright speed on Friday, which meant he was first on the road for the rest of the weekend. Despite that, Munster remains upbeat.

“For sure,” he said. “This was not the result we wanted, but there were lots of positives to take home. We reached the finish without making any big mistakes and we learned a lot. We’ve worked with the engineers on the set-up and have done some analysis and on-board comparisons to be able to keep improving.

“Although it doesn’t reflect in the stage times, we made some good improvements despite opening the road.”

M-Sport team principal Richard Millener echoed those sentiments, backing his driver to unlock more pace in the coming rallies.
“He made solid steps forward,” said Millener. “He’s taken on a lot of feedback, and we saw big improvements throughout the weekend in Sweden. This is all building for the future.”

With his sights now set on Safari Rally Kenya, Munster is relishing the challenge ahead.

“That’s a proper tough event,” he said. “I’m looking forward to it. It’s a rally where you need to balance speed with smart management. Reliability is a big thing in Kenya, and I think that’s one of the strong points of our car.” – WRC