After a few weeks away from competition, Swedish rally driver Mille Johansson returns to action this weekend as he and co-driver Johan Grönvall make their fifth WRC2 start of the season. This time, the challenge comes at the legendary Acropolis Rally in Greece.
This year, Mille and Johan are combining starts with M-Sport Ford – awarded as part of their Junior WRC title prize package – with outings for Italian team MS Munaretto in a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2. In Greece, they will make their second appearance of the season with the Munaretto squad.
“It will be really nice to be back in the Škoda on gravel. The break has given us some time to analyse the last events and recharge. Greece is always a tough rally, with extreme heat and road conditions where luck can also play a role,” says Mille Johansson.
After a challenging start to the season in Sweden and Croatia, things started to come together at Rally Islas Canarias at the end of April. There, Mille and Johan set several top times in WRC2 and were fastest on the final stage. They followed that up with their strongest result of the year so far in Portugal just over a month ago, finishing sixth overall.
“Above all, we take confidence and our feeling with the Rally2 car with us. It’s been a while since I drove the Škoda on gravel, but I don’t think it will take long to get back up to speed. We’ve had good pace in the last few rallies and done many things right, so the key is to keep building on that while staying focused and avoiding mistakes,” Mille continues.
This weekend brings one of the toughest events on the WRC calendar. The Acropolis Rally is notorious for its rough roads and temperatures expected to remain around 30 degrees Celsius throughout the weekend.
“We hope to show good pace from start to finish, but Greece is never easy. Sometimes you have to back off a little to avoid destroying the car completely, because the roads can get really rough,” says Johan Grönvall.
The event features one of the strongest WRC2 fields of the season, with 29 entries and almost the entire top ten in the championship standings present.
“The goal is to have the best rally we can, drive smart and continue to develop. If we can put together a clean weekend without mistakes or punctures, anything can happen. It won’t be a trouble-free rally for anyone – the question is who gets hit the hardest,” Mille concludes.
Rally Acropolis begins with shakedown on Thursday, followed by a spectator stage in the evening. Six stages are scheduled for Friday and another six on Saturday, before the rally concludes on Sunday with four final stages.