Just two weeks after the latest round of the FIA World Rally Championship, Swedish rally driver Mille Johansson is back in action for his third WRC2 start of the season. This time on the Spanish Canary Islands, where he rejoins MS Munaretto in a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2.
Mille, who alongside co-driver Johan Grönvall claimed the FIA Junior WRC title last year, has begun the season with two appearances with M-Sport Ford as part of his prize programme for winning the championship. In the Canary Islands, the duo will make their first of three planned starts with the Italian team MS Munaretto.
“It feels good. We already know both the car and the team quite well, so it’s nice to return to something familiar. MS Munaretto and the Škoda have worked well for us before, so the aim is to build on that straight away,” says Mille, who competed in both the FIA ERC and the Italian Championship with the team in 2025.
Two weeks ago, Croatia Rally proved to be a tough challenge, with difficult conditions and demanding surfaces affecting many crews. After retiring on Friday following two punctures, Mille and Johan bounced back to set the fourth fastest WRC2 time on the final Power Stage.
Now the focus shifts to the Canary Islands, and a completely different type of asphalt, more comparable to a racing circuit. It was also here that Mille and Johan claimed their first Junior ERC victory in 2024.
“It’s going to be really enjoyable to be back competing again. Croatia was tough in many ways, but it feels like we’ve only just had time to reset before it’s time to go again. The Canary Islands is a completely different environment and set of conditions, so I’m looking forward to getting there and getting properly underway,” Mille says, before continuing:
“Above all, we take confidence and experience from 2024. We know we can perform there, and that the approach worked well last time. We’ll try to do the same job again.”
A strong field of 29 WRC2 entries will line up for the event, which begins with shakedown on Thursday. A total of 18 stages will be contested from Friday through to the finish on Sunday.
“It will be interesting to see if we can make a step performance-wise with the change of car. This rally is quite different from the asphalt in Croatia, so it should be a bit easier when you can’t cut as much and drag dirt onto the road,” adds Johan. “The goal is to keep learning and set some really competitive stage times.”
“We want to keep developing and get the maximum out of both the car and ourselves throughout the rally. If we can maintain a consistent and high level across all stages, we give ourselves a chance of a strong result in the end,” Mille concludes.