The goal for M-Sport drivers Grégoire Munster, Josh McErlean and Martins Sesks was to get through the Acropolis Rally without major trouble. But the team ran into problems almost immediately.
Both McErlean and Sesks suffered punctures early on. Munster was successfully following his game plan and running in a strong position, but by the end of Saturday he was forced to retire due to a technical issue.
“I think bits were okay, but a lot of it was difficult. I think it’s always a hard rally, always a demanding rally, and now it was extra hot. But we tried our best on that,” team principal Richard Millener told RallyJournal.com.
“I think there were some mechanical issues on Saturday, which obviously is a shame for the guys. But ultimately, there are some things outside of our control that really hampered the weekend. And that’s a difficult bit.”
Millener was referring to Munster’s retirement, which was later attributed to faulty fuel supplied by the WRC’s new provider, TotalEnergies. Sesks also had to skip a stage on Friday due to a fuel-related problem.
“The FIA made the statement that there is something strange going on with this fuel and we need to look into it. But ultimately, that certainly caused the retirement of Greg, which is a really tough one to take when the team didn’t do anything wrong for him,” Millener stressed.
“He had a very good strategy as to how we did things. Ultimately, seeing him not finish this is a hard one.”
It was certainly an eventful weekend for the British squad’s drivers. On Saturday, McErlean hit a rock and had to get through a couple of stages with a damaged car.
“It was a bit never-ending, and I think a lot of the issues were either from a mistake – which happens – or from stuff outside of our control,” Millener remarked.
M-Sport once again failed to score any points, with none of its drivers finishing inside the top 10. Still, Millener wasn’t entirely disappointed with how the rally unfolded.
“As much as I’m sure it looks bad from the outside, I don’t think the performance of the team was particularly too bad. And I think the mechanics did a fantastic job in this heat and these conditions to do everything they needed to do. But it’s always hard to not be anywhere near the fight – even when you take the strategy of trying to be sensible,” Millener said.
“So it is what it is here. We refocus again, and the calendar is extremely tight, so we can go again in a couple of weeks in Estonia.”
