The British team endured a tough race at Rally Estonia last weekend, with French youngster Adrien Fourmaux finishing seventh as the best-placed driver.
Lead rider Craig Breen posted a handful of top 3 stage times but was out of contention on Friday morning when he stopped to change a wheel after hitting an anti-cut block. Pierre-Louis Loubet and Gus Greensmith both retired on the final day.
Sébastien Loeb gave M-Sport its only win of the hybrid era at the Monte-Carlo Rally in January, but the nine-time world champion contests only a small number of select rounds.
Millener believes the addition of an established driver to support Breen on a regular basis would open doors to future success.
“It’s always negative when the main driver drops out or has a problem,” he told WRC.com. “When that happens we often struggle to fight for the top three. It’s frustrating, but it’s understandable.
Millener’s options are limited at the moment – but he’s not giving up
“I think it would be fantastic to have another established rider who could fight for those podiums but unfortunately it’s just a goal that we can’t achieve at the moment.
“We’ll keep coming up with ideas on how to change that because we know we can get the results. We just have to keep trying and hope we can find a way to get more funding for it.
“Craig is capable of that, but being the only rider at the front of the team puts a lot of pressure on his shoulders. I don’t see any way for us at the moment to raise the budget for that extra driver, but we should always strive for it,” he added.
Super Kalle is fantastic…
There are moments in our sport that are simply stunning, moments when you immediately ask yourself: …
Continue reading
While Millener was quick to praise youngsters Fourmaux, Greensmith and Loubet, the team currently lie third in the Manufacturers’ Championship and he admitted a solution had to be found sooner rather than later.
“Adrien, Pierre and Gus are all still studying,” he explained. “In the long term, of course, we have three really good young drivers who will hopefully fill this position in three or four years. But we have to do it now too.
“We can’t give up – if you do that and just live with what you have, you’ll never make it work.” It’s just a constant thought in my head that we have to find a way to try and do it. It’s not easy, but I won’t give up.”
Comments are closed.