Having raced in the WRC2 category last year, McErlean made a somewhat surprising step up to become an M-Sport Ford works driver for 2025. His start to the season has been slightly better than expected.
McErlean has had a familiar opponent to measure himself against this season. Toyota’s Sami Pajari – last year’s WRC2 champion – also earned a place in the top class and is contesting a full season with Toyota’s second team.
Last year, the pecking order between the two was clear. Pajari was in a class of his own compared to McErlean in WRC2.
“The way I look at it is last year, in WRC2, we were not near the same level as Sami,” McErlean admitted openly to DirtFish.
“He went on to win WRC2, a championship which we know how competitive it is and how difficult it is to even set fastest times in that category, never mind win it,” the Irishman continued.
This season in the top category, the situation has shifted slightly. Pajari has not yet shown quite the pace that was expected, while McErlean has performed surprisingly well – even to his own surprise.
“And this year to be matching him, and sometimes beating him in stages, has been a big thing for me personally, because going into the year I never even looked at Sami as a benchmark,” McErlean pointed out.
McErlean initially expected his main benchmark to be within his own team, aiming to match second-year top-class driver Grégoire Munster.
“I thought maybe Grég, or even trying to get close to Grég, would have been the challenge.”
“But coming out the other side of the first three rounds, I would say in terms of pace it’s been better than I expected,” McErlean summed up.
After three rounds, Pajari sits eighth in the drivers’ championship with 19 points. McErlean has also opened his account, having collected eight points from the first rallies.
The WRC season continues with Rally Islas Canarias in Spain from 24–27 April.
