Munster, who competed with the M-Sport Ford team for the past two seasons, did not manage to renew a full-season drive for this year.
Backed by Greek-Belgian businessman Jourdan Serderidis, Munster did take part in the season-opening Rally Monte Carlo, but the 27-year-old Luxembourger’s rally came to an early end already on Thursday evening due to a power steering failure. On Friday, two punctures also slowed his progress, and in the end he did not see the finish at all when a technical fault struck the Ford Puma Rally1 car on Sunday.
Munster’s programme for the rest of the season remains a mystery, but the driver, who has finished in the top five of the World Championship on five occasions during his career, is currently in talks about his options. Munster surprises by mentioning that Hyundai’s WRC team is in his sights.
The Luxembourger feels he would be a better option than veteran Hayden Paddon, who drove Hyundai’s third car in Monte Carlo.
“I don’t know about Hayden and how many events he signed for. I know that Lappi and Sordo don’t want to drive more than five, and that [Monte Carlo] was the way to tell them [Hyundai] we are motivated. I think if you take it just by the stage times, we’ve beaten Paddon on every opportunity. So that’s what we wanted to show. And without the issue, we would be first Ford as well,” Munster summed up to DirtFish.
““So OK, we are not as fast as Oliver (Solberg) and Sébastien (Ogier), but I think we showed some good potential and we could be useful to a team like Hyundai to score manufacturers points.”
Paddon was competing in the top category of the World Championship for the first time since 2019, so no particular performance pressure was placed on the New Zealander’s shoulders either. In the end, after many twists and turns, Paddon finished 11th. Paddon admitted that Monte Carlo was a very difficult start to his part-time season. Munster seized eagerly on those comments.
“When I hear their third driver saying that he doesn’t enjoy being here in Monte and the condition and so on, well, I would kill for that seat.”
Munster is trying to keep his name in the spotlight this season, but admits that the main focus is on the 2027 season. At that point, the World Championship regulations will change and more seats may become available.
“Of course I want to drive. That’s the only thing we want to do, we are motivated. We are trying to get a seat, but it’s not easy. I want to be there in ’27 – I think I will be a very good candidate as you have, like you said, a lot of experience with Rally1, with Rally1 teams, with the events in the WRC. But you also want to keep driving in ’26 to be on point for ’27,” Munster underlined.
