The British private team failed to get their cars into the points, as both Grégoire Munster and Josh McErlean suffered retirements. Of the pair, Munster ran into trouble on the very first kilometres of the opening stage, damaging his car on a jump and immediately losing several minutes. On Saturday, Munster was forced to retire due to a technical fault.
McErlean, on the other hand, got through Friday’s stages respectably, until a retirement was recorded after the second special stage on Saturday morning. Like Munster, the Irishman’s car took a heavy beating, resulting in yet another retirement.
“This was never going to be an easy rally – new territory, very rough stages, and unpredictable weather. Friday showed us both sides of the sport: the difficulties Grégoire faced early on, and the promise Josh
showed with his pace, “team principal Richard Millener summed up.
“Unfortunately, Saturday was a big blow with both cars sidelined, and while we got them back out on Sunday, the end result is clearly disappointing. What we will take away from Paraguay is the experience
gained and the chance to measure ourselves in very different conditions.”
Millener praised the organisers of Rally Paraguay. The brand-new event passed the test with flying colours, as not a single stage was cancelled and there were no delays in the schedule.
“Finally, a huge congratulations to the organisers of this new rally – they did a fantastic job and firmly deserve their place on the WRC calendar.”
With four rounds of the season remaining, M-Sport Ford are still without a podium finish, and a top result has not once even been close. The team’s best result is Munster’s fifth place at Rally Kenya in March.
The World Rally Championship continues in less than a week with Rally Chile. After that, points will still be contested in Central Europe, Japan, and Saudi Arabia.
