The M-Sport driver ultimately finished eighth in the final standings of Rally Portugal. More importantly, he finished ahead of his teammates Grégoire Munster and Martins Sesks.
The Irishman was consistently faster than his teammates throughout the weekend – a fact that surprised at least many members of the media.
“Maybe not so much surprised, but it’s nice to show speed – certainly against Greg and Martin,” McErlean told RallyJournal.com.
“But honestly, I think the whole team has learned a lot this weekend about the car and the tyres. We were testing this weekend, so we can bring a lot forward from that,” McErlean added.
Portugal is one of the most traditional events in the WRC calendar. This year’s edition was undoubtedly one of the toughest in recent memory.
Beyond the challenging conditions, the rally’s structure was also a major test for the drivers. Days started at the crack of dawn and finished well after sunset.
“It’s been a crazy rally, as always. You know, going to Portugal, it’s going to be demanding, it’s going to be tough – long, long days and short nights,” McErlean said.
“I’m satisfied after the Canaries; it’s nice to come back with a good result. And yeah, a lot of things learned, a lot to take forward, and hopefully another good rally in Sardinia,” McErlean smiled.
McErlean’s teammate Grégoire Munster was expected to beat him – if only because of his greater experience. However, that didn’t happen, and understandably Munster was a very disappointed man after the rally.
“It’s been a really tough event. We got some things right and some things wrong, and the result isn’t exactly what we wanted. But at least we managed to get the feeling back towards the end,” Munster commented.
“We had an okay run just now on the Power Stage – the first two kilometres were okay, but in two ruts we slid wide and lost a lot of time. But we didn’t give up. We tried to push and gain back some time, and I think we had some pace towards the end,” Munster added.
