McErlean and Kelly aim for strong results on WRC Central European Rally
Josh McErlean and Eoin Treacy return to asphalt for the World Rally Championship’s first sealed surface event since April's Canary Islands Rally. The MI Rally Academy crew will be keen to have a strong weekend as the series returns to the mixed-condition roads of Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic.
McErlean has been getting to grips with the Ford Puma Rally1 over the past few months on new events like Rally Paraguay and Rally Chile. Now, he returns to a more familar surface, drawing on his experience of competing on the Central European Rally in 2023 and 2024.
The Kilrea driver finished 11th overall and fifth in WRC2 on last year's event, demonstrating his capabilities on the challenging tri-nation rally.
"It is great to be heading back to asphalt again," said the 26-year-old. "We have had a long stretch on gravel, and while the learning has been huge, it will be nice to get back to something a bit more familiar.
“Central Europe is a really special event, fast, technical and often unpredictable so the key will be staying tidy and avoiding mistakes.
"I have done this rally twice before, so I have a good idea of what to expect in terms of the roads and conditions. The weather can play a massive part, with the grip levels changing corner to corner, so it is all about being adaptable and reading the surface.
“After the challenges of the last few events, a clean, trouble-free weekend is the aim as we build the sealed surface miles in the car. It is easy to forget we have only had two asphalt events throughout the whole season so far."
Eamonn Kelly and Conor Mohan tackle the final round of Junior WRC with an outside chance of claiming the championship title. The Donegal-Monaghan crew won Junior WRC’s previous round on the illustrious high-speed stages of Rally Finland.
Their second-ever Junior WRC victory put them fourth in the Junior WRC standings, with an outside chance of sealing the coveted Rally3 title, heading into its decisive double-points finale.
Kelly and Mohan have claimed top Rally3 honours on Rali Ceredigion and Austria's Herbst Rallye since their Rally Finland success, building valuable momentum and asphalt knowledge ahead of Central European Rally's demanding stages.
"The Herbst Rallye was a fantastic event to prepare for the Central European Rally," said Kelly. "The roads are very similar and we had similar weather conditions as well so that was the best preparation we could have had for car set-up.
"The feeling inside the car is good after doing a few asphalt events over the past month. The speed is showing, we were in and around the top Rally2 car pace from the very start of Herbst Rallye.
"That gives us good confidence heading into this week, we feel well prepared, and will focus on having a good recce with solid pacenotes. We will enjoy our last WRC event of the year, I feel lucky to be doing it so I want to enjoy every last bit - bring it on!"
County Tyrone co-driver Aaron Johnston continues his season with Toyota pilot Takamoto Katsuta. The pair are sixth in the WRC standings and will be hoping for a strong result on the asphalt stages after finishing fourth last time out on sealed surface roads in the Canary Islands.
Two top-five finishes on previous runnings of Central European Rally demonstrate their capabilities on the relatively new WRC event.
Ireland's veteran WRC crew Eamonn Boland and MJ Morrissey return to the series for the first time since April's Canary Islands Rally. They will drive a Ford Fiesta Rally2 in the WRC Masters Cup.
The Central European Rally takes place across three countries: Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic, offering a variety of asphalt conditions from smooth and flowing roads to narrow and muddy tests.
Thursday morning's shakedown stage is quickly followed by a Golf und Therme stage double-header that afternoon. Friday and Saturday have six stages each with four tests on Sunday completing the 306-kilometre event.