M-Sport, which competes with the support of Ford, released its driver for next season. The team consists of Gregoire Munster and Josh McErlean.
The drivers of the upcoming season of the World Rally Championship were completed when M-Sport released its own drivers. The team’s number one driver is from Luxembourg Gregoire Munster. In addition, the team is driven by an Irishman for a full season Josh McErlean.
McErlean has not driven a Rally1 car in the World Series before. He drives in a team with the support of the Rally Academy of the Irish Motor Sports Association. He will thus become the first Irish premier class competitor since his passing in 2023 by Craig Breen.
– I am excited to work with such a professional and dedicated team, McErlean said in the press release.
Last season, McErlean drove a Rally2 car in the WRC2 series and the rally in the EC series. His best class finish was second place in the World Rally Championship in Portugal. So you can’t expect too much from McErlean as a paid driver next season.
Munster can also be considered a payment driver, so to speak. In the second season, he got to drive a Greek in a Rally1 car Jourdain Serderidis under the auspices of. Last season he drove his first full year in the main class.
The Luxembourger finished fifth in the general competition with his best, but his level was far from the top drivers of the World Championship.
Urheilu’s rally expert Henri Haapamäki according to M-Sport’s choices tell one thing.
– Yes, the choice speaks harshly about M-Sport’s financial situation. You could find many drivers faster than them in the WRC2 class alone. They just can’t bring the kind of money with them to be able to rent a car, Haapamäki points out.
M-Sport can still complete the driver line-up if, for example, a Latvian Martin Sesks gets to gather the budget to compete in the main class with support crews. Sesks flashed last year by reaching the bottom time pace despite his limited experience.
– M-Sport’s operations are business operations. They need drivers who bring money. Other teams have the support of the car factory behind them, which means they can hire the drivers they want, Haapamäki describes.
They will drive Toyota next season Kalle Rovanperä, Elfyn Evans, Takamoto Katsuta and Sami Pajari. Sebastien Ogier competes in selected competitions.
Hyundai is driven by the reigning world champion Thierry Neuville, Ott Tänak and transferred to the team from M-Sport Adrien Fourmaux.