At Rally Monte Carlo in January, McErlean finished seventh, though the gap to the leaders was massive. In Sweden, he got stuck in a snowbank, and while Safari Rally Kenya was another tough event, he at least managed to finish 10th.
In Portugal, he reached the finish without major issues, but his fortunes turned again with retirements in both the Canary Islands and last weekend in Sardinia. In Sardinia, McErlean clipped the left rear of his car and was forced to retire already on the second stage of the rally. That stage turned out to be something of a disaster for M-Sport Ford overall – both Martins Sesks and Grégoire Munster also retired there.
After his small mistake on Friday, McErlean ended up opening the road on Saturday and Sunday – a major learning experience for the Irishman.
“It’s a proper punishment for a mistake on Friday. I don’t think anyone has to do any shouting. I fully understand why you can’t do that,” McErlean sighed.
“It’s a shame because I think on Friday we had good pace to have a strong day. My mistake on the second stage ran wide and hit the tree and took the rear left wheel off. I think this weekend shows you that you probably have to have a good start to these type of rallies with the road cleaning and especially going out so early on Friday that no one actually came back to go in front of us.”
Despite the setback, McErlean gained valuable experience.
“We done it for two days, and it’s my first time opening the road, more or less in a rally and any type of rally. So a lot to learn from out there even today. Second pass with these ruts it’s different again, but I think we can take some things forward in the race. Have a really strong Friday and hopefully we have the road position for the rest of the weekend,” he summed up.
With his rally effectively over on Friday morning, McErlean – and the entire M-Sport team – shifted focus to testing. The team has no further test days scheduled before the Acropolis Rally at the end of June.
“We did a lot with ride height, and I’m not sure if you’ve seen the car yesterday afternoon, but it was proper Safari spec on the right height. So we’ve got some things to consider goin to Greece because we’ve got no test there. Basically it’s been a two day test more or less. I think every time you drive one of these cars, there’s something to learn,” McErlean affirmed.
