Mille Johansson from Sweden drove this year’s second round of the ERC Junior, when Rally Liepaja was decided in Latvia during the weekend. Together with the co-driver Johan Grönvall, they got their first ERC points, after a problem-filled rally.
Mille and Johan had a nightmare start to the rally in Latvia, when they had a puncture already on stage one. When they then got two punctures on stage five, they dropped to last in the class. After that, they were able to set several strong times in the class and move up to a 10th place finish. Thereby they secured their first ERC points of the season.
– The rally did not go as planned. We started with a puncture already on the first stage, and then it went pretty good on the coming stages. When we had a double puncture on stage five, the hope of a good result disappeared. Sunday went better, we tried a different setup to reduce the risk of punctures. I’m happy with the finish and being fourth fastest on the last stage, even though we were hindered by a wheel that was in the middle of the road, says Mille.
– It has been a tough weekend. But I think we did well on Sunday and we picked up places on the stages and finished in the top ten, which we should be happy with after a difficult start, says Johan.
After two problem-filled rallies with punctures in Latvia, and a retirement after a broken drive shaft in Poland, Mille and Johan are now looking forward to the next competition in the European Championship. The competition Royal Rally of Scandinavia is decided on home ground in Sweden and Värmland, and builds on Rally Sweden’s strong tradition in the region. It is the first time in modern times that the ERC series comes to Sweden, and large audiences are expected to follow the rally on site on July 7-8.
– Now we look forward to the home rally in Sweden, and to make a good result in front of all our partners and supporters, concludes Mille.