Inexperienced team-mates and team's limited development budget combine to leave M-Sport driver lacking benchmark
Photography by Red Bull & M-Sport
Words by Luke Barry
As he nears the end of his second full season in Rally1 machinery, M-Sport’s Grégoire Munster is finding it tricky to properly judge himself.
For his debut season in a Rally1 car, Munster had the benefit of the more experienced Adrien Fourmaux as his team-mate and benchmark – with the Frenchman regularly scoring podiums and winning stages in 2024.
This year Munster’s been paired with Josh McErlean, who had never driven a Rally1 car competitively prior to January’s Monte Carlo Rally. It has led to some unfavorable comparisons for Munster on occasions when he’s been beaten by his team-mate. But Munster himself is still learning as a driver.
More importantly, Munster feels the Puma Rally1 is not quite as competitive a package in 2025 as it was in 2024.
Without anything like the same budget as manufacturer rivals Hyundai and Toyota, M-Sport cannot keep developing its car at the same rate. It is understood that finding the same balance with the car since the hybrid unit was removed for this season has proved a particular challenge.
Asked if he’s where he wants to be in terms of his own pace, Munster opened up to DirtFish.
“It’s difficult to judge,” he said, “because you know last year, clearly, I think we had a very competitive package with the others. I did some rookie mistakes, like going into a ditch and being stuck. But then, step by step, I managed to get closer and do encouraging times – even on rallies like Poland and so on, where I did a second fastest [time].
McErlean (right) does not provide an experienced benchmark for Munster (center) who's still learning himself
“And this year, we struggled much more. I had a good rally in Monte because the conditions are so difficult, you have a lot of tire choice and so on. But then it’s been tricky.
“It’s been fighting with my team-mates and [it’s] difficult to get closer to the rest, even when we had a good road position. So it’s difficult to judge really where we are.
“But for sure, I feel much more at ease with the car and confident with my skills. Again, I think here on this rally [CER], on Saturday afternoon and on Sunday here on the two last stages, I had the proper go and decent times close to the others. So yeah, I feel good.”
Munster’s Central European Rally was undone by a mistake on Friday, where the incorrect line over a jump broke his rear suspension.
“I’m for sure disappointed with my mistake on Friday,” he reflected. “On the other hand, we had to give it a go. I think on pure dry Tarmac, we’re still a tiny bit too far from the others.
“Like in the powerstage, I gave it a proper go and we’re not far – much closer than in [Gran] Canaria, like around five/six tenths of a second per kilometer [down]. So yeah, still we made quite an improvement and I’m happy with what we managed to do with the team and the low budget we have compared to the others.
Suspension-breaking Friday error proved costly on CER
“I had to try on the stages that were a bit tricky and I made a mistake, but that’s how it is.”
Team principal Richard Millener told DirtFish: “I think the line was correct when you watch the other people’s lines over that jump, when you watch the in-car. Everything was correct, it was just too fast.
“It’s sad – it’s an unforced error which has cost him another good result. But again, he’s picked his head up and got back on with it. A couple of spins yesterday [Saturday], but we all know that once you’re out of the fight, it’s more tricky, especially in your second year, to just drive around for experience because he wants to be showing the results and the speed.
“But yeah, it’s OK. I think [as a team] we’ve probably performed as expected, really.”
Munster scored 46 points last season, with a trio of fifth place finishes on Sardinia, CER and Japan.
After 12 of 14 rounds in 2025 (there were 13 last year), Munster has just 25 points, with one fifth place finish at Safari Rally Kenya. He has, however, won two stages – one in Monte Carlo and the other in Kenya.
Words:Luke Barry
Tags: Central European Rally 2025, Gregoire Munster, M-Sport, WRC, WRC 2025
Publish Date October 24, 2025 DirtFish
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