The M-Sport Ford World Rally Team had a rough go at Safari Rally Kenya on March 20th through 23rd, 2025. Though all of its Ford Puma Rally1 race cars crossed the finish line, it wasn’t an easy journey for them to get there, mustering through unforgiving conditions and myriad mechanical issues throughout the three-day rally.
Grégoire Munster and Louis Louka started strong. They took their M-Sport Ford to the third-fastest SS2 time, wrapping up the day in third place overall for the first time in their partnership. Unfortunately, their luck took a turn for the worse on Friday. Munster’s race car suffered suspension damage in SS4, losing three minutes and plummeting to 14th place. However, Munster put his head down and pushed through, bringing home an 11th-place result on Friday.
Josh McErlean and Eoin Treacy, meanwhile, were sitting pretty in fifth place midway through Friday’s session. Heavy dust significantly reduced visibility, and the race car suffered damage that prompted McErlean to stop for repairs to prevent a fire. Even so, they managed to finish seventh overall on Friday.
Halfway through SS11, though, McErlean’s M-Sport Ford suffered a damaged steering arm. After 28 minutes of repairs, he returned to the racing surface, finishing seventh overall once again on Saturday. Munster battled through a wheel incident to lay down the fourth-fastest time in SS13.
SS15 brought mud and rain to the course, adding even more adversity to the race. Munster was undeterred and earned a stage win, with McErlean in hot pursuit, just 12.3 seconds back. The victory marked Munster’s second-ever WRC stage win at the top level, while McErlean earned his best-ever stage result in a Rally1 vehicle.
Unfortunately, a gearbox problem felled the M-Sport Ford Puma of Munster. Mechanics were flown in by helicopter to address the issue – and managed to replace the gearbox in less than 15 minutes. Munster went on to earn the fourth fastest time in the Hell’s Gate Power Stage, while McErlean finished 10th overall.
“I think despite the dramas we’ve faced here in Kenya, we’ve had a very positive weekend overall. Not a single crew went unscathed this weekend, and to have a 100% finish rate for our Rally1 crews, all of them finishing within the top ten, is an incredible achievement,” said Richard Millener, M-Sport Ford team principal.
Kenya isn’t an easy course, but it’s worth noting that M-Sport Ford left Africa with a significantly better result in 2024.
Comments
Ah, M-Sport—the true masters of turning mediocrity into a miracle. If the proof is in the pudding, theirs would taste like regret and lost potential, but hey, at least they’d serve it with a smile! 🍮😂
Once again, the self-proclaimed “A-team” (better known as Ford’s B-team) has delivered a spectacularly underwhelming performance. Broken gearboxes, steering failures, and mid-race car surgery—just another day at the office! But don’t worry, folks, because they finished the rally, and in their world, that’s basically a win! 🏆
At what point does Ford wake up and smell the burnt clutches? When do they finally admit that this “partnership” has been an endurance test for fans rather than a winning strategy? It’s like having kids who flunk every test but insist that at least they didn’t fall asleep in class this time—progress, right? 😅
But hey, let’s not be too harsh. After all, 11th place is basically first place if you squint hard enough. Maybe next year, they’ll celebrate breaking into the top 10 like it’s a championship win. Bravo, M-Sport! 🎭👏
Congratulations To Everyone, must be one grueling race course, from what I read, everyone went above and beyond and all should be congratulated for finishing in the top ten.
Great Racing team Ford!