Sardinia: Grégoire Munster: “We must continue the progress started in Portugal”

Not having enormous experience in Sardinia, Grégoire Munster who will team up with Louis Louka knows that he will have to avoid the many pitfalls of the route to obtain a good result.

Published 29/05/2024 à 16:55

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Sardinia: Grégoire Munster: “We must continue the progress started in Portugal”

In Sardinia Grégoire Munster will look to further increase his experience on gravel with the Puma Rally1 (Photo: Nikos Katikis/DPPI)

When reading your list of achievements, it appears that you do not have much knowledge of Sardinia?

I have only competed in the event once, last year (11^e, 7^e of WRC2, Editor’s note). The organizers having chosen to rely on the route used in 2022, we will have to discover quite a few kilometers. Ultimately, we are in the same situation as in Portugal where my experience was also limited.

Through the videos you have seen, what does this edition inspire you?

I find that in general the rally from Sardinia is very technical. The selected sections are even more so than what we took last year. The Power Stage is a good example. It's narrow, it turns a lot and it digs quite a bit. It’s an event where there isn’t much room to express yourself.

Do you like this type of profile?

Overall, I've always liked it. I find that it resembles Terres de Castine in France where it is tight, between walls. However, you will have to deal with the fact that a Rally1 takes up space. As it is heavy, it is a little less agile than a Rally2 and this parameter will have to be integrated.

What will be your objective for this round in the original format?

This new division will require us to be immediately in the game on Friday. With so few kilometers, there is likely to be even more will to ensure a good position on the road on Saturday. As in Portugal, we know that we will lack a little experience. The goal is to continue the progress we had a few weeks ago. The ideal would be to manage to start again at the same pace as we finished the previous round. We want to increase our experience on gravel to be able to achieve better results in events like Greece.

Do you feel more pressure after your Portuguese abandonment?

When you evolve into WRC, there are always some and it is not because we had a spin in Portugal that our approach will change. We lack experience and don't think we're not trying. We may be at 1s/km, but it would be worse if we hadn't watched the videos 15 or 20 times beforehand. It doesn't show in the times and there can be some frustration, but we are really trying to reduce the gaps with the fastest.