M-Sport Ford World Rally Team is getting into gear for Rally Sweden and the second round of the 2025 FIA World Rally Championship. Alongside Grégoire Munster and Josh McErlean, the team welcomes Mārtiņš Sesks and Jourdan Serderidis back for the event, with a four-strong showing of Ford Puma Rally1 cars lining-up in Umeå next week.
Rally Sweden, the only full snow-and-ice event in the WRC season, is a historic and fan-favourite rally dating back to 1950. Often dominated by Nordic crews due to the unique driving skills required, its ever-changing conditions challenge even the most experienced crews.
Delivering impressive rally action with high speed sections through trees and tight corners, drivers often describe driving on snow giving a ‘floating’ feeling due to the effect of the studded tyres on the loose surface.
M-Sport’s quartet of Puma Rally1 cars will take to the stages around Umeå next week, in Sweden’s northern region of Norrland. Three days of action will commence on Friday, after a vibrant start to the event on Thursday night’s super special stage, hosted in the fan-favourite Red Barn Arena.
With his confidence bolstered by his first-ever stage win in Monte-Carlo last month, Grégoire Munster will seek to advance his winter driving skills on his second snow outing in Rally1 machinery in Sweden. The previous year’s edition proved tough for Munster, who battled to find grip and speed on the unique surface in his newly upgraded machinery.
Now with a full year in the Puma Rally1 under his belt, Munster, alongside co-driver Louis Louka, will utilise his experience in the car to take on the WRC season’s next challenge in Sweden.
Josh McErlean will make his second ever Rally1 appearance on Sweden’s snowy stages next week, after a successful debut in Monte-Carlo where he finished seventh overall and claimed six championship points.
Now facing the next challenge ahead, joined by co-driver Eoin Treacy, the pair will experience their first full-snow event in the Puma Rally1 on only their second rally in the car. The Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy crew will focus on managing tyres, grip levels and avoiding dangerous snow banks on the famously tough event.
Joining the team for the first event of his partial season in 2025, Mārtiņš Sesks will also make his Rally1 snow debut in Sweden next week. Despite having only one previous edition of Rally Sweden under his belt, when he claimed second overall in Junior WRC in 2020, Sesks is no stranger to snowy rally stages.
Having claimed multiple class and event wins on snow events in his home country of Latvia, Sesks and co-driver Renārs Francis have a good foundation to give a strong performance in Sweden next week.
Also joining the team for his first WRC event on snow and ice is Jourdan Serderidis. The Greek driver takes on this new challenge alongside co-driver Fred Miclotte, expanding his driving skills on a new surface in the Puma Rally1. The pairing prepared for their Rally Sweden debut on last weekend’s Arctic Lapland Rally in Finland and are excited to take on Sweden’s stages next week.
The team will also launch its 2025 WRC2 campaign in Sweden, with Romet Jürgenson’s debut in the Fiesta Rally2 taking place on the historic snowy stages. Kicking off a seven-round campaign in Sweden, last year’s Junior WRC campaign will look to gain valuable experience in Rally2 machinery across snow, gravel and Tarmac surfaces throughout the season.
The Estonian driver finished second overall in the Junior category in Sweden last year, and combined with some native experience on snow, he and co-driver Siim Oja will look to deliver a clean and measured drive on their first WRC2 appearance with the team.
Richard Millener, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Principal, said:
“Sweden is a very different challenge compared to Monte-Carlo for the crews, but it will also be a challenge for the team, going from running two cars on Round 1, to five cars on Round 2. It is fantastic to see such a lineup for us, and although there is a lot of experience to be gained on this surface for all our crews, we showed in Monte that with the right approach we can get interesting results. That will be the same mentality and aim for this weekend!”
Grégoire Munster said:
“I’m looking forward to driving on snow and ice again, it’s something that we’re not so used to and don’t do so often. Being able to do it with the Puma is really cool too. `We had the pre-event test earlier this week, where we learned a bit about how to work with the new tyres, and I think that’s going to be an interesting factor on this event.
“We are going to have a good starting position, after our result in Monte, so we will try to benefit from that on Friday and hopefully we will enjoy some good snow conditions. We had good pace in Monte-Carlo, and although this is a completely different surface, we hope to carry some of that momentum into Sweden.”
Josh McErlean said:
“Really excited for Rally Sweden! This event is always incredible, it's such a special event with the unique challenge of competing on snow and ice. The grip these cars can generate with the studded tyres is something else. We learned a lot in Monte Carlo, and now the focus is on building momentum, taking another step, and building speed. I can’t wait to get back in the car and experience the thrill of flying through the forests at full speed.”
Mārtiņš Sesks said:
“I'm excited to be back in Rally1 with M-Sport and I’m grateful to have the opportunity to do half of the season this year with them, which gives us more chance to show our pace and maturity in the car.
“This will be our first rally of the season, and our first snow rally in the Rally1 car. It will be a good experience with a good learning curve for sure! Because we’re only doing half the season, we have less pressure on us long-term and we can just see rally by rally how we feel and how our pace is going to look. I’m excited to be driving on snow, I really enjoy driving in these conditions, using the snow banks around the roads. It should be a fun weekend and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Jourdan Serderidis said:
“Rally Sweden is our first appearance in the WRC in 2025 and we are excited to drift on snow again! While Sweden is not where we have the most experience, we believe that this event should help us to tackle higher objectives in Kenya in March. I can’t wait to be back in the Puma together with our team-mates in Umeå.”
Romet Jürgenson said:
“It’s going to be a big step up in Sweden for both me and Siim, but we are ready for the challenge! WRC2 at the moment is a different league and it will definitely take some time to be able to establish ourselves. I will take my time and try to prove my worth once we are settled in properly. We have an exciting year ahead of us and can’t wait to get started!”
Published 07 February 2025