M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s Gus Greensmith and Łukasz Pieniążek had much to learn at this weekend’s Rally Sweden, but both showed good progress and brought their EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta R5s home in third and fourth places respectively in the WRC 2 Pro class.
Gus Greensmith (3rd WRC 2 Pro) said:
“It’s been a tricky weekend and hard to find the confidence. The pace wasn’t where I wanted it to be, so we just had to keep it on the road for both the manufacturer and driver championships. In that sense the result was good and we scored some good points, but we still have a lot to learn and improve on snow.”
Lukasz Pieniazek (4th WRC 2 Pro) said:
“We didn’t have a great start crashing on the first day, but for sure it will be better in the future! For us the rally was about gaining experience of this new car and I think we can be quite happy with what we learnt. There is still some more performance to find, but we will continue to work hard with the team and I’m optimistic that it will come.”
Team Principal, Richard Millener, said:
“We knew it would be a tough weekend for Gus and Lukasz this weekend, but Gus’ resilience paid off and he has been rewarded with another WRC 2 Pro podium. He is a natural competitor and always wants to be faster, but we need to remember that this was only his second ever rally on snow. I think he can be pleased with his progress over the weekend, and he still holds the lead in the championship.
“Lukasz was one of so many to get caught out by the snowbanks on Friday, but he was back on Saturday and keen to learn as much as he could. It’s a completely new challenge for him this year with a new car and a new team. There really is no substitute for competition so it was important to see him back on the stages and I know he’s already looking forward to Mexico.”
