McErlean matches career-best with stunning sixth on Rally Paraguay
A sensational performance by Josh McErlean and Eoin Treacy on Rally Paraguay equalled their best-ever Rally1 result with sixth overall.
They fought at the very front of the World Rally Championship field throughout the weekend on one of the most demanding events of the season.
The Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy crew challenged for the rally lead on Friday morning, climbing as high as second overall despite a tyre delamination during the high-speed opening loop.
They ended the day in fifth after a puncture forced them to stop and change a wheel on Friday's penultimate test. McErlean battled through handling challenges on Saturday but still kept a positive position on the leaderboard.
The final day threw up one more hurdle when the Irish duo's gear lever snapped mid-stage. McErlean had to reach into the middle of the car to change gear while Treacy moved the broken mechanism. A roadside repair allowed them to tackle the final two stages and bring the car home in sixth overall.
"I'm really proud of the result and really pleased that we were able to fight at the front, especially on Friday," said McErlean. "That was a really strong day for us and to be up there fighting for the lead was a great feeling. Okay, we dropped a bit on Saturday. The conditions were incredibly difficult, and the car wasn't quite where I wanted it to be with the set-up we had, but we kept fighting and stayed in the battle.”
"Sunday was really about survival. We had the gear lever break and had to find a way to keep going, but we managed to get through the final stages and bring it home. It's been a really tough rally, and there were so many things that could have ended our weekend, so to come away with sixth and equal our best Rally1 result is something we can be really happy with.”
Jon Armstrong and Shane Byrne showed their potential on Rally Paraguay's unique red-earth stages before rear-left suspension damage forced them to retire on Sunday.
The M-Sport Ford crew set a joint third-fastest time on stage two, propelling them into the top five. Trouble struck when Armstrong's Puma hit a rock on the stage and suffered a puncture, the abrasive surface shredding the tyre quickly and triggering a brake failure that pitched the car into a downhill spin. Armstrong nursed the car to the stage finish but lost almost 90 seconds in the process. A lateness penalty after service dropped them to 16th overall.
Armstrong responded superbly on Saturday with a fourth-fastest time on stage 11 followed by a third-fastest time on stage 12 as the recovery gathered pace. Sunday began with real promise as two strong opening stages moved Armstrong to seventh overall before he clipped a bank on stage 20, damaging the rear suspension and ending his first Rally Paraguay early.
"It was a good week in terms of exploring a new rally," reflected Armstrong. "Friday started with some good pace but then we picked up a puncture on the third stage. Unfortunately, we didn't realise straight away and drove on to the end of the stage. We managed to fight our way back up to seventh by Sunday morning, so that was positive, but then we made a mistake with three stages to go and broke the rear suspension. It was really disappointing after the work we'd put in to recover from Friday.”
"I think we showed some good pace, particularly on Saturday, where we found a really good rhythm at times.”
County Tyrone co-driver Aaron Johnston and Takamoto Katsuta were forced out on the opening stage after a roll before returning under super-rally regulations. They showed their pace with a fastest time on stage 17 before retiring on the penultimate stage.
Cavan's James Fulton and Yuki Yamamoto were also forced to retire towards the end of day one before returning to show competitive WRC2 times on the remaining stages.
