21-07-2025
- Automotive
- Belfast Telegraph
I know where my car shines on fast rallies... now it's up to me to commit more and lift bar: Josh McErlean
The M-Sport Ford points-scorer made 10th place his own for much of the Tartu-based meeting before gaining a spot prior to the end-of-rally Power Stage when Takamoto Katsuta retired.
A solid weekend's work was capped off by Kilrea man McErlean once again getting the better of the more experienced Gregoire Munster in the second of the three works-supported Pumas.
The only blot in his copybook came on Saturday's 10.9-mile 'Kanepi' test when the 26-year-old failed to scrub off enough speed as he approached a junction and went off the road into a ditch. Thankfully, quick-thinking – and a heavy right foot – spared his blushes.
'It was a super-fast rally and really enjoyable to drive, and okay, although we were cleaning the road for most of it on the Saturday and Sunday, we now have our brain dialled into these fast roads, how the car works and how and where we can commit,' said McErlean, who now turns his attention to Rally Finland, which will run from July 31 to August 3.
'I think overall, we can be happy with our pace compared to Gregoire, and we now have a quick turnaround for the next round in Finland where we hope we can step it up again.
'We have the experience now – we have done a fast rally in a Rally1 car – so it is all good preparation.
'We did not make any big mistakes, which is good, and that will only help our confidence going to Finland – a place where, if you are low on confidence, it is not ideal. The feeling is okay. Now, we just have to start committing more and trusting the process.'
McErlean hopes his performance in the Baltic state over the course of the gravel test is a sign he has got his maiden Rally1 campaign back on track after consecutive opening-day retirements at Rally Italia Sardegna and Acropolis Rally Greece respectively.
'It was nice to settle down a bit after the last two rallies where a couple of mistakes kept us out of the points. It is definitely nice to make it to the finish here in Estonia,' he added.
Oliver Solberg, on his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 debut, stunned the WRC with a sensational victory.
Despite only being notified of the drive a fortnight previously – and having had the benefit of limited pre-event testing – the 23-year-old secured a breakthrough win by 25.2 seconds.
