20-year-old rally driver Mille Johansson from Katrineholm, Sweden, together with co-driver Johan Grönvall from Arvika, finished seventh overall in the top category of the FIA European Rally Championship at Rally Poland – after a challenging weekend both on and off the stages.
The rally began in mourning after their teammate Matteo Doretto tragically lost his life in an accident during MS Munaretto’s private pre-event test – a session where both Mille and Johan also participated. The test was immediately halted and the team decided to withdraw from the rally, in line with standard procedure. However, after a phone call from Matteo’s parents, who expressed their wish for the team to continue competing to honour their son’s memory and passion for the sport, Munaretto resumed their efforts – a decision that Mille and Johan carried out with great strength, despite the grief and without proper preparations.
Throughout Saturday, Mille and Johan struggled with the setup of their Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 and lost valuable time. It wasn’t until Sunday that the team managed to get closer to the correct configuration, but by then it was too late to gain back positions.
– A very tough week, both on and off the stages. I didn’t manage to get the setup right during qualifying or the entire Saturday, and we lost a lot of time. The team worked extremely hard to try different solutions and finally we made progress on Sunday, but it was too late to recover, said Mille Johansson.
Mille and Johan ultimately finished seventh overall in one of the strongest ERC fields of the season, with 32 Rally2 cars on the entry list. On the final day they claimed four top-six stage times, including one top-five, showcasing strong pace under demanding circumstances. The rally was won by World Rally Championship driver Mārtiņš Sesks of Latvia.
Next up for Mille and Johan is round three of the FIA Junior WRC, taking place in Greece on 26–29 June – where they currently share the championship lead. That will be followed by their next ERC appearance at Rally di Roma Capitale in Italy on 4–6 July.