17-year-old rally talent Mille Johansson from Sweden will drive for the reigning Swedish Championship team GN Motorsport in 2023. The team, which for the past three years has won the Swedish championship in the highest class with the former Junior World Champion PG Andersson, will help with support and operation of the rally car before, between and during competitions. This as part of the team’s major investment in juniors.
– It is incredibly fun to get the trust from GN Motorsport to drive for them. It is a team with a lot of experience and a good history. Above all, it feels very good that they choose to invest in juniors. With GN’s experience and competence in the rally sport, it is an obvious step in the career. It is a long-term collaboration that has just started, and with the people in the team, this will be really good, says Mille.
– It’s fun to have a junior like Mille in the team. Mille has a clear goal of where he wants to be in a few years and with our resources in the team, we will help him get there, says Staffan Andersson from GN Motorsport.
In 2022, Mille Johansson, then only 16 years old, made his international debut when he drove the Slovenian championship for the WRC-merited team IKSport Racing in a Ford Fiesta Rally4 together with co-driver Julia Thulin. That car can now be found at GN Motorsport, where Julia also works as a coordinator.
– GN Motorsport is a stable team with a good future. They want to move forward and have many good people in the organization who can help and support, says Julia. It feels good to collaborate with Mille, and it’s always fun to be able to help a junior forward.
Mille will be a teammate with junior Adam Grahn, who will also compete in a Ford Fiesta Rally4. In addition, the team announced last week that the double World Champion Pontus Tidemand will be part of GN Motorsport, partly as a driver, but also as a coach and mentor to the juniors. Mille and Pontus began their collaboration over the weekend, when Pontus coached Mille on a test on snow and ice in Östersund.
– The test went very well. A little unusual with snow, and above all a significantly stronger car than what I have driven before on winter roads. Pontus went along and gave very positive feedback, and also tips on how I can use the tires in a better way. He thought I had listened to the advice he gave and was very impressed with my driving, which was great to hear. It is super useful to have Pontus in the team, who knows what it takes to achieve success, concludes Mille.
The first competition for Mille and Julia together with GN Motorsport will be the Finnish championship premiere Arctic Lapland Rally in Rovaniemi, north of the Arctic Circle, starting this Friday, January 13. Mille’s international rally effort for 2023 will be presented later on.