Armstrong and McErlean secured eighth and ninth overall respectively, while Sesks bounced back from retirement on Friday to claim a stage win on Saturday morning.
FINAL CLASSIFICATIONS
WRC / OVERALL
8th: Jon Armstrong / Shane Byrne
9th: Josh McErlean / Eoin Treacy
35th: Mārtiņš Sesks / Renārs Francis (SR)
WRC2
14th / 36th Overall: Romet Jürgenson / Siim Oja (SR)
Retired Friday: Mille Johansson / Johan Grönvall, WRC2 (rollcage damage)
EVENT SUMMARY
M-Sport crews showed strong pace throughout the weekend, taking stage wins across Rally1 and WRC2 categories, with Sesks, Armstrong and Romet Jürgenson delivering impressive performances throughout.
Friday morning proved tricky for the team, with multiple punctures across all cars severely hampering the team’s chances of top stage results. Three punctures in two stages ultimately forced Sesks to retire on Friday morning after running out of usable rubber.
Saturday morning saw Sesks cleaning the road but he still claimed an overall stage win on SS10. In fact, all three Pumas finished within the top seven positions on the stage – a strong comeback for the M-Sport squad and a strong showcase of their inter-team competitiveness.
Romet Jürgenson also gave an impressive performance on Saturday, claiming a WRC2 stage win on Saturday’s SS6 amidst a strong pool of experienced Scandinavian competitors.
Sunday morning centered around the rally's longest stage, clocking in at 25.45 kilometres. With Neuville carrying a one-minute penalty into Sunday morning, Armstrong found himself in a genuine battle for seventh place with the former World Champion. The Irishman rose to the challenge in only his second-ever Rally1 event, beating Neuville on both Sunday morning stages to close the gap and apply pressure heading into the Power Stage.
Richard Millener, M-Sport Ford Team Principal, said: “Certainly it was frustrating after such a good pre-event test for all drivers to see Friday pan out like it did. However, there was no point to then sit back and feel the weekend was wasted – in fact, we did quite the opposite. Mārtiņš coming back on Saturday morning with a fantastic stage win was a high for the team, reflecting all the hard work they have been putting in. Also, Jon and Shane's pace all weekend has been a pleasure to watch – beating a former World Champion on both of Sunday's long stages was a clear sign that Jon deserves his place in the team and excites me for what future events could hold.
"For Josh and Eoin it was important to get a solid result after Monte and that is exactly what they have done – Kenya will offer a clean chance to get back up to the pace we know he is capable of. Away from Rally1, Romet and Siim had some very strong stage times when you look at their experience in this class and the speed of the 'locals'. Sadly for Mille and Johan it didn't go quite as they hoped – but I am confident they will be back stronger. We now look forward to some extremely different conditions in a few weeks in Kenya!”
CREW SUMMARIES
#95 Jon Armstrong / Shane Byrne
Armstrong and Byrne delivered a standout performance on their first snow and ice rally in the Puma Rally1 car, posting multiple top-five stage times and continuously putting pressure on multiple rally-winning crews.
A puncture in the final kilometres of Friday's opening stage didn't stop them posting a top-ten time, while sixth-fastest on SS3 showed they were adapting well to the conditions.
Gathering confidence, Armstrong stayed close to reigning World Champion Thierry Neuville during the afternoon stages. Sixth-fastest again on SS5, faster than both home-hero Solberg and Hyundai’s Fourmaux, lifted the pair to eighth overall by day's end.
Saturday brought more clean running as Armstrong found his rhythm on the faster sections. Sixth-fastest on SS12 showed growing confidence following set-up adjustments, before fourth-fastest on the Umeå stage capped another strong day, maintaining eighth overall.
With Neuville awarded a one-minute penalty heading into Sunday, Armstrong found himself just 14.8 seconds away from seventh overall. The Irishman took the challenge by the horns, beating the former World Champion on both passes of the 25 kilometre Västervik stage. Neuville's Power Stage win ultimately secured his position, but Armstrong finished a fantastic eighth overall after an overall impressive weekend.
Jon Armstrong, 8th overall, said: “I really enjoyed Rally Sweden – it’s good to get this finish under our belt after Monte. We've shown some good pace and good splits along the way, and for our first time on this surface in the Rally1 car, it's been great for us and the team. We're really happy with our progress and now we can see how we can improve that going forward. But overall, it's been a good weekend and we can be really proud of what we've achieved as a team here.”
#55 Josh McErlean / Eoin Treacy
Making a positive return to Rally Sweden, McErlean took a measured approach to the start of the event, focusing on delivering a clean drive in the challenging snow conditions. Despite losing rear tyre pressure on SS3, he stayed close to teammate Armstrong and remained consistent throughout the afternoon to hold ninth place overall on Friday.
Saturday morning saw the crew find their rhythm with fifth fastest on SS10, putting another Puma in the top stage times behind winner Sesks. The Irish pairing enjoyed the challenge throughout the day, gathering valuable experience and growing in confidence with each kilometre. McErlean gracefully managed through the evening stages despite struggling with tripping headlights, maintaining ninth overall.
Tackling Sunday’s 25 kilometre Västervik stage, McErlean and Treacy would even go faster than teammate Sesks on the second pass by four seconds, and eighth-fastest on the Power Stage would see them consolidate ninth overall.
Josh McErlean, 9th overall, said: “Rally Sweden done – it's nice to get to the finish after a really difficult Monte-Carlo, one of the toughest events of my career. It's been a weekend of ups and downs. Friday didn't start so cleanly, but we've showed some good pace throughout and we’ve got some clear things to work on before Kenya. Overall, it's been positive from a bounce-back perspective. We'll focus now on Kenya, and the team has done great to get two cars to the finish inside the top ten – all in all, a good job from the team.”
#22 Mārtiņš Sesks / Renārs Francis
Sesks delivered examples of impressive pace across the weekend in Sweden, claiming a stage win on Saturday morning and a host of top-five stage times throughout the event.
Friday began dramatically for Sesks with a double puncture in the first 5km of the opening stage. Stopping to change in the snowy conditions cost the crew precious time, and extreme windscreen fogging from snow inside the car made visibility extremely tricky, meaning they would drop over seven minutes in total. Further punctures in the following two stages meant they were unable to continue unassisted, and had to retire coming into midday service.
Saturday morning brought an impressive comeback as Sesks stormed to a stage win on SS10, going 0.9 seconds faster than Evans. The Latvian kept the pace going, claiming fifth fastest on the following stage before midday service. Afternoon conditions proved tougher as a brush with a snowbank damaged the aero package on SS12, but the crew battled through to the end of the day, making up time in the overall positions despite Friday’s super rally penalties.
Sunday morning saw Sesks go fifth fastest on the 25km Västervik stage despite tricky road conditions with low grip levels, but dropped over 30 seconds on the second pass after overshooting a junction. However, a sixth-fastest run through the Power Stage would round off a positive weekend of proven pace for the Latvian.
Mārtiņš Sesks, 35th overall, said: “There were a few unfortunate things happening throughout the weekend, but if you look at the positives, we had our first stage win of the year and we were able to show our pace in some stages – which means we've found something good. Jon and Josh also showed some good speed, and overall as a team I think we can look forward to some more good performances during the summer gravel rallies.”
#27 Romet Jürgenson / Siim Oja
Jürgenson took a measured approach on Friday morning, adapting to the Swedish conditions while staying close to Swedish teammate Johansson in the early stages.
The afternoon brought strong pace as the Estonian pair went sixth fastest in WRC2 on SS4 - just 5.3 seconds slower than the experienced competitors - before a joint-fastest time on SS6 showcased the Estonian’s skill in the Fiesta Rally2.
Saturday morning proved tougher as the Estonian struggled to find his rhythm. Unfortunately, contact with a tree on SS12 in the afternoon caused extensive damage to the front left corner, ending their day prematurely.
Restarting on Sunday, the pair went seventh-fastest and sixth-fastest on the 25 kilometre stage, improving their time by over 14 seconds on the second pass. Another impressive run through the Umeå Sprint Power Stage saw them drop only four seconds to the fastest time, closing out their Rally Sweden with 14th in WRC2, and 36th overall.
Romet Jürgenson, 14th WRC2, 36th overall, said: "Sweden this year was one of those difficult events where things just weren't really clicking for us. We were showing some good performance on Friday afternoon and got a joint-fastest stage time there. But again on the first loops with more snow and ice, we were generally lacking some performance. On Saturday we ended early after a small crash, but the team did a good job and fixed the car so we could get the confidence back on Sunday. I think we can definitely see the overall package has improved on the Fiesta – it shows that when things are clicking with the set-up, we're producing some very good stage times, and next time we can come back stronger."
#26 Mille Johansson / Johan Grönvall
Making their Fiesta Rally2 debut on their home event in Sweden, Mille Johansson and co-driver Johan Grönvall showed strong progression on Friday morning, staying close to teammate Jürgenson through the opening stages. However, a trip into a snowbank on SS5 affected engine performance and cost the pair nearly a minute, dropping them to ninth in WRC2.
They recovered with good pace on SS6, but SS7 brought further misfortune when contact with a tree caused significant damage. While the crew managed to bring the car back to service, irreparable damage to the rollcage meant they were unable to continue for Saturday and Sunday's stages.
Despite the disappointing end, Johansson gained valuable learning on his first event in the Fiesta Rally2 car and will now refocus ahead of his next outing on Rally Croatia.
Mille Johansson, retired Friday, said: “Rally Sweden didn’t go our way this year. We faced technical issues during Friday morning which made the car quite low on power. The afternoon wasn’t too bad, but we filled the air filter full of snow on SS5. I was trying hard to find a good rhythm, but unfortunately it ended early for us after an incident that damaged the roll cage. Not the best start of the season, but we will learn and come back stronger.”
