On the fast gravel stages of the opening day of Rally Chile, Munster was able to drive almost in sync with the top drivers. This was a huge surprise, as in previous rallies, the Luxembourgish driver, representing M-Sport Ford, had mostly played a minor role and had not earned much praise for his performances.
After the opening day, Munster was in fifth place, only 13.7 seconds off the lead. Notable names like championship leader Thierry Neuville and fellow Hyundai driver Esapekka Lappi were behind him on the leaderboard.
In the final two days of Rally Chile, challenging conditions slowed Munster’s pace slightly. However, he finished in seventh place, likely marking the best performance of his career in the WRC’s top class.
“I’m happy with our Friday performance. We showed good pace and were competitive with the front guys,” Munster reflected.
“Saturday was a bit more difficult in the morning. They were new stages for us, but we improved in the afternoon in tricky conditions. In the fog we managed to do a third-fastest time in SS11, which was really great for us.”
The most important thing for Munster was that he managed to keep his Ford Puma on the road until the end. In the two previous rallies, Munster had taken his car off into the woods.
“Sunday was tricky again with the rain and fog, but we managed to stay out of trouble and not make any mistakes throughout the weekend. The goal was to bring the car home, which was important for us after a good effort on Friday,” Munster emphasised.
Munster also earned praise from M-Sport team boss Richard Millener after the rally.
“I am happy for Gregoire and Louis (co-driver Louka) that they have got a solid result after the last two tricky events,” Millener said.
