Rich Millener (M-Sport)

00:00:00:04 - 00:00:02:09 Patrick Russell Rich all set for Estonia? 00:00:02:19 - 00:00:21:16 Rich Millener Yeah. I mean, it's a very short period of time since the last event, but the guys and girls have done a good job we've turned all the cars around and they left on Friday evening for the next round. So yeah, very different to Kenya. This rally is one of the fastest in the calendars but we've had a very good test. 00:00:21:16 - 00:00:26:28 Rich Millener All the drivers seem very happy. So yeah, we'll go and do what we can and, and see where we end up. 00:00:27:09 - 00:00:39:24 Patrick Russell Funny enough the one thing that sort of came to mind with me was that lovely song by Monty Python. So always look on the bright side of life. And I thought in a sense, after Safari, that probably would be the best way to should look at things if you like. 00:00:39:27 - 00:00:58:28 Rich Millener Yeah, I mean, we went with what we would class as a very strong line-up and I think a lot of people would say the same. But yeah, we just struggled. Every driver had something, some small little issue, everyone was different and you know, it just meant it didn't turn out the way we'd hoped 00:00:58:28 - 00:01:23:11 Rich Millener But, you know, ultimately, on this occasion, you got to take your hats off to Toyota, you know, one, two, three, four is really quite special and congratulations to them on such a fantastic result. But yeah, we still showed some pace, some fastest times from Seb. One from Adrian. Seb's car again showed its capabilities on another type of surface but the end result just wasn't to be for us that weekend. 00:01:24:00 - 00:01:29:15 Patrick Russell Absolutely. The buzz words as far as Safari was concerned was fesh fesh. Tell me about it. 00:01:29:28 - 00:01:53:27 Rich Millener Yeah, it's a really tricky type of it's like sand, but it's almost like sandblasting the car when you go through it and, you know, very difficult to drive through. Very, very soft. We saw last year that Kalle Rovanperä got stuck in a section of that. And this year we saw some fantastic imagery, but very, very difficult conditions for the cars, probably, in my opinion, a little bit too hard for the cars. 00:01:53:27 - 00:02:21:28 Rich Millener They're not really designed for that kind of thing in terms of ride height and the amount of dust going into the engine bay. So I think we need to be a little bit careful next year when we go back about route choice. But yeah, it was all part of the adventure this year we got through with very little problems in those areas but it was a really, it's really tricky conditions and it's a bit like luck whether you get out the other side or not and you know Hyundai's tech definitely seem to struggle in that section but ourselves and Toyota were okay but yeah I think we just need to be a bit careful of route choice to make 00:02:21:28 - 00:02:39:15 Rich Millener sure we're not having cars retire from the event by making the route too difficult. You know, rallying these days is about is more of a sprint than endurance in some respects. And, you know, I think having close competition is what we all want. And ending up with a situation where you have minutes separating cars is often quite difficult. 00:02:39:15 - 00:02:45:22 Rich Millener So it was really nice to see some great video footage and photographs. But I think we just need to have a chat about it next year. 00:02:46:12 - 00:02:54:20 Patrick Russell Were the stages on Safari Rally this year untypical to what we've been used to in Safari in past years or were they the same stages that we normally would use? 00:02:54:22 - 00:03:16:27 Rich Millener Well, I mean, it's a very different area to I think where it was back in the 2000s when it was last run. But, you know, my view is it's a fantastic country with really passionate fans and incredible landscapes and wildlife. And, you know, we don't necessarily need to make it any more difficult. You can have a great rally with great conditions and great scenery and roads already without those sections. 00:03:17:08 - 00:03:42:23 Rich Millener So it's kind of what we're expecting. We knew it would happen, but you know not much you can really do. All the teams did the same. You just raise the ride height to the maximum and kind of hope for the best. And with teams being put under pressure to have a reduced number of engines per season and things like this, then you know, we've got to be careful we don't wreck an engine by ingesting a load of sand because then you get penalties and then that makes it difficult as a champion to compete in the championships without having penalties 00:03:42:23 - 00:03:45:06 Rich Millener So, you know, it's got to be looked at from both sides. 00:03:45:06 - 00:04:02:01 Patrick Russell I think the Ford Focus that you have on display at M-Sport obviously tells us an awful lot about the success you had with Colin and obviously with Nicky in those two years when you won the rally with the Focus. But that particular car is a very iconic part and parcel of what M-Sport was about on the Safari rally. 00:04:02:03 - 00:04:30:15 Rich Millener Yeah, I mean, it was a huge part of M-Sport's history and you know, not me being involved personally or directly in those occasions. But, you know, the Martini Focus is something that a lot of people always see when they come for a tour around M-Sport its synonymous with M-Sport McRae in those colors. So it's fantastic to go back there and start a new chapter and hopefully one day in the coming years, we can win again in Safari because I still think it's one of the hardest and trickiest events on the calendar. 00:04:31:11 - 00:04:40:19 Rich Millener And it would be a fantastic one to tick off the bucket list of winning. But it's not as easy just saying we'd like to win it. You know, to do it is a challenge. So we'll keep pushing on and keep trying and see where we go. 00:04:40:24 - 00:04:55:00 Patrick Russell Absolutely. Line up for Estonia. We've got Craig, we've got Gus, we've got Adrien. And also you've got a certain Jari Huttunen he's going to get out in a Fiesta Rally 2 car and this is really is a build-up for his drive in Finland with you. 00:04:55:03 - 00:05:15:29 Rich Millener Yeah, so we've got the normal three of Craig, Adrien, and Gus. We've also got Loubet back again which is great. You know he's had a fantastic start to the season so really excited to see the four Pumas but Jari's driving this event in his Rally Two car as normal but two days ago we actually tested the Puma Rally One for, like you say, his debut in Finland. 00:05:16:01 - 00:05:36:21 Rich Millener So that will be really interesting to see. You know, I think we've got to be realistic with his chances, you know, he's going to kind of experience rally one in a proper event and see how we go. And Malcolm's always been very keen on developing young talent. And between himself and Marcus, Marcus Grönholm who is managing Jari, they came to an agreement to run him in this event. 00:05:36:21 - 00:05:53:21 Rich Millener So they'll be really excited to see another young driver get into a Rally One car. But it will be challenging. You know, Finland's one of the toughest fast-speed events on the calendar as well. So I think that would be a nice eye-opening experience for him. But I hope it goes well and we look forward to working with him on the Rally One side. 00:05:53:26 - 00:05:57:13 Patrick Russell And I bet he's very enthusiastic about being part of M-Sport isn't he as well. 00:05:57:21 - 00:06:12:03 Rich Millener Yeah, you know, he's very Finnish. You know, they will they all like to hide their emotions. But from what I get, and the feedback I get, he's very excited and looking forward to it and had a really exciting day in the Rally One car testing so that's pretty positive and a good start. 00:06:12:05 - 00:06:15:14 Patrick Russell What are the challenges as far as the stages are concerned on Estonia? 00:06:15:24 - 00:06:40:25 Rich Millener You know, I think they're just polar opposite to safari. So instead of, you know, very rough and rocky and difficult and big holes and things like that, you know, they're almost flat out. It's the highest average speed event in the year. Big jumps, fast crests, very loose. So, you know, our starting position should hopefully give us, if it stays dry, it gives us an opportunity to have a bit of a road appealing effect. 00:06:40:25 - 00:07:02:01 Rich Millener But a lot of it is, you know, real grit and determination, style roads. You have to be so committed from the word go. You know, Craig has had good results here in the past, and we are hoping that we can see that come to fruition this weekend. But beating people like Tanak on his home event and the speed that Kalle showing at the moment is going to be a huge challenge. 00:07:02:01 - 00:07:11:18 Rich Millener So we can just go with the best strategy possible, which is pretty much to go flat out from the word go. We'll have to see on Friday night where we are and evaluate what we do. 00:07:11:27 - 00:07:24:10 Patrick Russell Absolutely. The other thing was also, I came across this M-Sport Waterless Wax and Polish, and it's being advertised on television quite actively. I mentioned this to Malcolm the other day, but are you using this product on the cars on the rallies? 00:07:24:14 - 00:07:55:06 Rich Millener Yeah. Yeah, we're using them. You know, the WRC is a hugely popular sport series and we have a fairly active licensing program in the background for producing merchandise, car models or calendars, or car washing products. And, you know, we get external partners to help create that because it's not our specialty, but using the WRC rally program as a kind of a marketing and advertising tool. 00:07:55:14 - 00:08:08:17 Rich Millener But yeah, we use the product ourselves and yeah, it's great to see that people are seeing the name out there. And you know, if we can build the sport and build the brand more and more then it only helps in the future. So that was the goal behind that one but seems to be going well so far. 00:08:08:17 - 00:08:15:08 Patrick Russell Fantastic stuff. Obviously, Rally Three is going to be quite prominent on Estonia as well, which is good news. Rally Three Fiestas. Yeah. 00:08:15:10 - 00:08:31:03 Rich Millener Yeah. So the next round of the junior championship. So that will be always exciting to see, you know, and understanding its very good to see and understand the speed of the young drivers on an event like this because they all run very close together. So all the road conditions are very similar and like I say, a really high speed, tricky event. 00:08:31:03 - 00:08:43:28 Rich Millener So it will show how committed they can be and how good their pace notes are. So we'll be looking to see how we can how it can go. You know, John Armstrong still leading the championship, but it's very, very tight. And yeah, it will be a great battle to watch I think. 00:08:43:28 - 00:08:47:21 Patrick Russell And you got a lot of nice feedback from the drivers in Rally Three as well are you? 00:08:47:21 - 00:09:04:18 Rich Millener Yeah, They're all very happy with the car. You know, I think it's a category that's only going to go from strength to strength in the future, to be honest, you know, a four-wheel-drive car, at an affordable price and very good performance is something that's really exciting to see. So, you know, we're the first in the market at the moment, which is what we like to try and achieve. 00:09:04:18 - 00:09:19:04 Rich Millener But I think other brands are now starting to realize the potential of that championship and that class. So expect to have some competition before too long but M-Sport Poland who designed and built the cars did a fantastic job and I'm sure they're ready for anybody that wants to come and challenge them. 00:09:19:09 - 00:09:28:08 Patrick Russell Fantastic stuff. Can I wish you all the very best Estonia and let's hope to always look at the bright side of things on this particular rally yes? 00:09:28:08 - 00:09:32:25 Rich Millener Exactly. You've got to be positive otherwise you're going to start going backwards so we'll keep going (Fantastic). 00:09:33:05 - 00:09:35:08 Patrick Russell That's great. Good luck. And I hope it all goes well. Yeah. 00:09:35:12 - 00:09:36:15 Rich Millener All right, Patrick, thanks for that.