Mãrtiņš Sesks dipped back into the ERC emphatically, but of more interest was what is suggested about his WRC situation
Photography by Red Bull & M-Sport
Words by Luke Barry
The contrast between the two weekends could not be clearer.
While Mãrtiņš Sesks flew home to hang out with friends as his fellow World Rally Championship drivers continued to drive in Sardinia, he flew on the stages instead in Poland.
Returning to the European Rally Championship, and the MRF fold, Sesks was utterly dominant as he recorded victory by over a minute – driving over half a second per kilometer faster than anyone else on the powerstage!
However as mega an achievement as this was, we already know Sesks can drive a Rally2 car fast – particularly in Poland where he did the same in Rally1.
So in the context of a difficult pair of events in the world championship, what did we – and he – take from this European cameo?
Sesks flew to a dominant victory of over a minute in Poland
Sesks’ stock could not have been higher this time 12 months ago, when he firmly announced himself to the WRC on his Rally1 debut in Poland.
That stock has taken a bit of a hit since with a difficult Portugal and disastrous Sardinia that didn’t last more than two stages.
The ERC isn’t where Sesks needs to prove himself, but it still did no harm for him to turn in this sort of drive to remind the world that despite whatever struggles he’s going through, his talent is still clear.
“Of course, for ourselves, we needed this to get some kind of our self-confidence back,” Sesks admitted to DirtFish, “that we are doing the right thing and that we are capable of doing things. It was just like a fresh breath of air.
“Sardinia was, of course, the toughest thing in the past two weeks,” he added. “We immediately flew home, so while everyone was doing the rally, I was in my home town with my friends and just kind of forgetting what happened.
“And then with a fresh mind we went to Poland, and immediately when we sat in the car it just felt nice. We already had a good setup from ’23, we didn’t change a lot and with SRT the car was perfect, so it was, yeah, as I said, really enjoyable.”
Sesks has an agreement with MRF to help them out whenever required
Sesks revealed he is likely to reappear in the ERC again going forwards, although he’s not sure when.
That’s because when he got his WRC chance last year, he made a deal with MRF to help them out when needed.
“When MRF will need me, I’ll be available,” Sesks explained.
“At the beginning of ’24, I was supposed to do all the ERC with MRF and when this WRC opportunity came, of course it made sense that we just technically cannot do the both championships, and as well of course financially.
“And MRF was kind enough [to agree and let that happen] and we have been in a very healthy relationship. They agreed me to continue in WRC1 with a mutual deal that we continue to do at least a few races in the next years together. This was a part of an agreement.”
This is a hot topic in the WRC at the moment within the M-Sport camp, as the intra-team rivalry between sophomore driver Grégoire Munster and rookie Josh McErlean heats up.
Munster has more experience of the Ford Puma Rally1, but McErlean has more experience of the recent rallies in Portugal and Sardinia.
Sesks says the stages he'd done last year in Poland were where he was especially quick
Sesks effectively illustrated which force was stronger with his dazzling debut drives in Poland and Latvia last year, compared to his lower key efforts in 2025.
But heading back to a rally (Poland) he knew extremely well at the weekend really hit that point home to the Latvian.
“Everybody’s kind of talking about it,” Sesks said. “But yeah, I’ve done Poland for five years, so I’m going there and I know what’s gonna happen. And in Greece [next week], I’ve never been to Greece. Never, ever have I been to Greece.”
Not even on vacation?
“No. So that’s the thing. When you are in a completely new territory, whereas others have done the stages and done the rallies [it’s difficult].
“The knowledge of races is incredible. And if you look as well in Poland, like the stages I’ve done previously, and as well last year with Rally1 [are the ones] this year we had the strongest performances on. So that’s an easy answer to this.
“Nobody really sees the real picture of how difficult it is to jump in a new rally.”
Sesks knew he was under pressure to deliver last week as the hot favorite with almost everything to lose. Not that he let that get to him.
“Of course, you kind of see that coming, but what would be the worst thing that happens if we don’t win the race? Like, nothing.”
His three planned Rally1 drives would still be in place regardless of how he performed in Poland. But more pertinently Sesks has almost been dropped into a ‘no win’ situation of late.
His epic drives last year were what earned him this expanded 2025 program, but have considerably raised expectations of what he can achieve. So when things go wrong like they did in Sardinia, it almost looks worse than it really is because of the disproportionately high bar that’s been set.
Is Sesks on something of a hiding to nothing?
“Yeah,” Sesks pondered. “I think definitely some people are not looking sensibly on the things, but that’s another thing. And yeah, of course, as I said, and I’m talking about this a lot, that all these rallies are new for us and we are learning and from learning you get mistakes and that’s OK.
“And well, yeah, as I said, this year it’s completely different from last year when I did rallies which I have known for years.
“It’s not like the regular drivers were not driving fast or whatever, it’s just in Latvia and Poland last year we maybe had a bit more time for preparation, I knew the roads better and it just helped me. That’s it,” he added.
“So far [this year] it looks a bit worse from the outside our season, but if you look in Sweden, like no-one was complaining in Sweden. The memory of people is so short that everybody’s forgot that we did a good rally in Sweden.”
After a fifth-gear accident that culled his weekend so early, it’s valid to question whether Sesks will switch up his approach for the Acropolis.
But the 25-year-old reckons Sardinia “wasn’t that big of a mistake” in relation to the penalty he paid for it, and that ultimately mistakes are always going to happen when he’s learning. He therefore sees no need to do anything differently.
Sesks is trying to block out the noise and just focus on learning - where he says mistakes are bound to happen
“I just need to keep learning,” he explained, “and mistakes happen when we’re learning, so yeah. It’s just… I think people just don’t need to have that big of expectations where it’s not needed, and that’s it.”
Asked what is realistic to expect in Greece, Sesks’ answer was slightly defensive.
“I don’t know, we’ll start the rally and then we’ll see. I’ve never been to Greece, you’re asking me a question, I don’t even know how it looks there,” he said.
“I’m still learning, and still there is a long way to go.”
Sesks has already learned some important lessons though.
“That, yeah, you have to be quite sensible in your aims, your targets and your approaches,” he continued. “Nothing can be rushed too soon. I think that’s the biggest thing.”
Realistically, a clean run is vital for Sesks in Greece before he’ll likely pick up the speed in Estonia and Finland. He was admittedly unfortunate to puncture and be ejected from the fight so early in Portugal, but did also hit a bank later on the Friday – so it’s not like Sardinia was the only error of late.
But it’s hard to disagree that the hungover hype is skewing perceptions – his trio of rallies this year have not been as disappointing if you remove the 2024 context.
“Well, yeah, the beginning of the year in winter was quite OK. I think we were happy with the pace and it went quite OK,” Sesks surmised. “Of course, then there was a bit rougher times, but I think that’s something everybody can expect at some point.
“And yeah, now Poland was a breath of fresh air. So we’ll see what’s happening next.”
Words:Luke Barry
Tags: ERC, ERC 2025, Mārtinš Sesks, WRC, WRC 2025
Publish Date June 17, 2025 DirtFish 
https://dirtfish-editorial.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/2025/06/PjpJY4Tv-SI202506150368-780x520.jpg June 17, 2025
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