McErlean and Rahill claim silver linings from tough Rally Portugal
Josh McErlean and Eoin Treacy secured their first-ever Rally1 stage win on Rally Portugal after a challenging weekend on the punishing Portuguese gravel roads.
The Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy crew started strongly on Thursday, posting the fourth-fastest time on the opening Super Special. They continued to show promise on Friday as the quickest M-Sport crew through the first two tests before a sensor issue meant they checked in late before stage seven, earning a 50-second penalty.
McErlean kept his composure to set the sixth-fastest time on the next stage in slippery conditions. Rain arrived on Saturday morning to set up classic Rally Portugal conditions, but McErlean delivered clean, steady runs. Unfortunately, the wet muddy conditions left the Irish duo as passengers on Saturday night’s Super Special. First on the road, their Ford Puma Rally1 skated across the gripless mud, hitting a concrete wall and damaging its front-left suspension.
Repairs until 3am got McErlean and Treacy back out for action on Portugal’s final day. McErlean rewarded his mechanics efforts with a brilliant drive on the first pass of Fafe, achieving his first Rally1 stage win. A puncture on the final Power Stage cost more time but they reached the finish 18th overall.
“It has been quite competitive this weekend,” commented McErlean, “with plenty of ups and downs. We nearly secured the overall stage win today in Fafe, which was special, but we were just edged out at the very last minute. We faced some issues along the way, and unfortunately hit the wall in Lousada on Saturday night, probably the worst wall you could hit in rallying! I want to give big thanks to the whole team for their tremendous effort to get us back out today. They were up quite late last night, so thanks to all the lads and ladies for that. Japan is next, and we're looking forward to it and getting back on Tarmac, before the summer gravel rallies.”
Jon Armstrong and Shane Byrne approached Thursday cautiously on their first European gravel Rally1 event. Friday morning went well until power steering trouble hit late in the loop, with the Fermanagh native forced to end the day without power steering.
The issue was fixed overnight and with a fully fit Puma, Armstrong started Saturday in speedy fashion. A third-fastest time on stage Paredes emphasised his fight back into the top ten.
Unfortunately, his push back up the standings ended on the next stage when Armstrong clipped a rock face on the inside of a left-hander sending the Puma into a hefty roll.
"It was disappointing to retire while we were fighting our way back into the points after the mechanical issues on Friday,” said Armstrong. “The margins are fine at this level, and unfortunately this time it didn't go our way. Portugal is a great event, but it hasn't been my luckiest yet. I'm really looking forward to the upcoming rallies and coming back stronger.”
Craig Rahill and Conor Smith took fifth in Junior WRC after a demanding weekend. Suspension damage on Friday morning sidelined them for the day before M-Sport Poland's mechanics repaired the Ford Fiesta Rally3 for Saturday.
Rahill found his rhythm on Saturday afternoon with multiple top-five times, including second on the 26-kilometre Amarante test. They completed the gruelling event with second- and third-fastest times on Sunday's final two stages.
“Delighted to make it to the finish of a very difficult Rally Portugal,” said the Cavan driver. “It was one of the most challenging and demanding weekends we have ever done. Thanks to all the M-Sport Poland mechanics for getting the car fixed on Friday to get us back out for the remainder of the weekend. The heavens opened on Saturday afternoon and made the stages so slippery and tricky. We got into a good rhythm on Saturday afternoon and set consistent top five times, picking up second-fastest on Amarante.”
“Lots of positives to take from this weekend with plenty of mileage and experience.”
Aaron Johnston claimed fifth alongside Katsuta, their fifth consecutive top-five, holding second in the championship.
James Fulton finished as ninth-fastest Rally2 with Yuki Yamamoto with strong pace shown after losing three minutes with a puncture on Friday.
