Mille Johansson and co-driver Johan Grönvall delivered a strong finish in their third WRC2 outing of the season in the Canary Islands this weekend, recording three top-three stage times across the final three stages.
Competing for Italian outfit MS Munaretto in a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, the Swedish duo made their first of three planned starts with the team, in addition to their four-event programme with M-Sport Ford.
After a difficult start to the rally, where they struggled to find the right balance and grip in the car, the momentum shifted on Sunday. On SS16, Johansson set the second-fastest time in WRC2, the second-highest category in the FIA World Rally Championship. This was followed by a third-fastest time on SS17, before topping the Rally2 field on the final stage, SS18 — securing their first WRC2 stage win.
The pair ultimately finished 10th overall in WRC2.
“It was a difficult rally in many ways. We struggled with the car setup early on after a less successful test beforehand. In an event like this, every tenth of a second counts, and with the car not in the right window, we didn’t have the pace on Friday,” said Mille.
“We made significant changes for Saturday, and the feeling improved, but then the weather became a major factor, constantly changing between rain and sunshine.”
“I’m very happy with Sunday. Around 80 kilometres of stages with no service meant we had to choose tyres for the entire day in the morning, again with changing conditions. I made a tyre choice I believed would work throughout the day, and it did. We were able to be very competitive on the times, which was a great feeling. Now we know the pace is there. The key is to put together a full rally where everything comes together from the start,” Mille concluded.
Already next week (7–10 May), Mille and Johan return for their fourth WRC2 start of the season. They will be back with M-Sport Ford for the first gravel rally of the year in Portugal.