Throughout the event, McErlean was consistently outpaced – even by WRC2 drivers – and never managed to find a good rhythm in his driving.
The Irishman, who is in his debut season in the WRC’s top category, saw his rally come to a definitive end on Saturday when he crashed out and was forced to retire.
The tarmac roads of the Canary Islands were unfamiliar to most WRC drivers, but McErlean had some prior experience – having competed on the island five years ago in the European Rally Championship.
Even that, however, offered little help.
“This island has produced many memories! It’s been difficult from the start, we began to make small progress over the three days with the whole package,” McErlean commented.
McErlean openly admitted that Saturday’s crash was down to driver error – and it clearly stung.
“It’s a big shame what happened today, a little too-ambitious pacenote meant we carried too much speed and ran wide into an armco. I’m sorry for the whole team for this mistake,” McErlean said.
Next, the WRC enters a long stretch of seven consecutive gravel rallies, starting with Rally Portugal from 15–18 May.
McErlean remains confident that returning to gravel will improve his chances of competing for better results and positions.
“We have learnt a lot about the car and my own driving this weekend. I look forward to getting back on the gravel now and into more familiar territory, everything should come a little more naturally and we can push on from here.”
