Puma Rally1 crews Grégoire Munster / Louis Louka, Josh McErlean / Eoin Treacy, and Jourdan Serderidis / Fred Miclotte all reached the finish after a dramatic start to the weekend.
Friday morning began on a positive note, with McErlean, Munster, and Mārtiņš Sesks showing strong pace, pleased with their setups, and looking forward to a promising weekend.
But in a heartbreaking SS2, the team’s momentum shifted abruptly.
Munster, first of the trio into the stage, suffered severe suspension damage after clipping a bridge in an early section of the 18km test. He managed to finish the stage, but with the damage too severe to repair, they were forced to retire for the day.
Shortly after, McErlean encountered similar misfortune - drifting marginally wide on a corner, an impact with a rock pulled the entire rear suspension from the car, forcing an instant end to his day.
Mārtiņš Sesks and Renārs Francis would, after 4km roll their car on after a very fast crest, causing extensive damage and sadly putting an end to their weekend in Sardinia entirely.
Rejoining the rally on Saturday, Munster and McErlean took full advantage of the opportunity to gain more experience on the Sardinian gravel. Despite the challenge of opening the road on Saturday, McErlean was 11.5 seconds quicker than Munster on the first stage of the day. Munster responded immediately, regaining the time and holding position for the rest of the day. Both drivers continued to adapt to the demanding conditions and made meaningful progress with car setup for upcoming gravel events.
The inter-team battle resumed on Sunday, with Munster and McErlean trading stage positions in the intense Sardinian heat, pushing each other throughout the final leg. After a sensible approach through the Power Stage, the pair made it to the end of the event, with Munster finishing 32nd and McErlean 34th overall.
Jourdan Serderdis would have a positive, but not trouble free, weekend in Sardinia. Experiencing his own dramas in Friday afternoon’s SS5, he would clip a rock on the inside of a corner and roll his car onto its side. However, due to the help from some nearby spectators, the Greek driver was able to continue, albeit with a smashed windscreen hindering his view for the remainder of the test. He would go on to complete the weekend, finishing his first outing in Sardinia in a Rally1 car in a really positive 25th overall.
Romet Jürgenson and co-driver Siim Oja had a standout weekend in the Fiesta Rally2. They started strong on Friday, clocking top-ten stage times and running competitively among more experienced WRC2 crews. A broken alternator belt on SS6, however, cost them power steering and nearly two minutes.
The young Estonian rebounded impressively over the weekend. By Saturday evening, he had climbed to seventh in WRC2, and on Sunday morning he posted the second-fastest time on SS14. Jürgenson entered the Power Stage in fifth overall, a testament to his growing pace and potential as an FIA Rally Star driver. With a good push through the Power Stage, he would take fifth fastest and finish 13th overall and sixth in WRC2.
Richard Millener, M-Sport Ford Team Principal, said:
“Needless to say, it's been a tough weekend for the team here in Sardinia. Losing three cars in one stage was heartbreaking to say the least, especially after a really positive opening stage on Friday morning. But the team made a heroic effort to get Greg and Josh’s cars back out so they could get some important mileage under their belts and I believe it has been a valuable learning experience for everyone.
“Jourdan has had a really positive weekend and achieved what he set out to do here. Despite some drama on Friday afternoon, he and Fred did a brilliant job to bring the car back to service safely so they could finish the weekend. We’re looking forward to having him back with us on his home rally in Greece.
“Romet has been the star of the show this weekend; his pace has vastly improved since Sardinia and he has made great strides in the Fiesta Rally2 this season already. He did a great job to manage the power steering issue on Friday afternoon, and still managing to finish just outside of the top-five in WRC2 really shows his speed and true potential in the championship.”
Grégoire Munster said:
“A disappointing weekend for the team with what happened on stage two, but the boys and girls did a good job to get us back on the road. It was quite important to get back out there, because Greece is quickly coming up, so we got some good mileage where we could try things out, collect some data and we’re looking forward to having a better event in Greece.”
Josh McErlean said:
“A lot of good learning this weekend, and hopefully someday we can use this experience driving first on the road on the first day of a rally! But honestly, a big thanks to the whole team, even in the last service they had a big job to fit a front-left damper in seven minutes! So a big kudos to them and hopefully we’ve gained some good learning for Greece. It definitely shows us you need to have a good Friday in WRC!”
Jourdan Serderidis said:
“We end the rally 25th overall, which is better than expected, because looking through the entry list I thought the Top-30 would be the aim. So we finished 25th, even though we had the roll on Friday, we lost about three minutes there. For M-Sport its not been the best rally so far, with the three cars crashing out on Friday. But thanks to the mechanics, we repaired the cars so we could continue on Saturday and Sunday.”
“Another good point is that we’ve made some developments for the next rally in Greece, and I’m looking forward to a good weekend there soon.”
Romet Jürgenson said:
“In general it's been a very positive weekend, the speed is clearly better than in Portugal. That’s what I hoped for, already to be faster on Friday and we were quite consistent as well. Unfortunately we had the power steering issue which dropped us back, but now we have fought our way back to sixth.”
