Munster entered the fourth round of the season brimming with confidence, but the result was deeply disappointing. At no point was he able to match the pace of the other top-category drivers.
On Saturday, Munster briefly took his car off into the undergrowth but did manage to reach the finish.
That was about the only positive. Though pre-event testing had shown promise, it ultimately didn’t translate once the rally began.
“Although we learnt a lot in our pre-event test, sadly we still got something wrong,” Munster said.
“Once we are here with sealed mechanical components we can’t really do much to try and solve it. Sometimes that’s just how it is,” he admitted.
Despite the setbacks, Munster tried to keep a positive outlook throughout the weekend.
“We never gave up all weekend and we kept trying to find solutions. Certainly, we don’t have the result we wanted to achieve, but we didn’t give up and that’s the most important thing. I’m looking forward to bouncing back on gravel in Portugal in only a couple of weeks,” Munster reflected.
This was the first time the Canary Islands rally featured on the WRC calendar. The event received widespread praise – and Munster joined the chorus.
“Thanks must go out to the organisers for such a well organised event,” he said.
“It is amazing to see how many fans came out to watch us. It made the weekend incredibly enjoyable, even if the stages were a challenge..”
Next up in the WRC is a gruelling stretch of seven consecutive gravel rallies. First in line: Rally Portugal, held from 15–18 May.
