A career-best World Rally Championship result achieved at Acropolis Rally Greece was “quite a relief” after a “disaster” of a start to the season, according to Josh McErlean.
The M-Sport-Ford driver headed into Greece’s punishing stages having endured a difficult first half of the campaign that had yielded only three top 10 finishes.
Mistakes in Monte Carlo and Portugal proved costly while a mechanical failure in Kenya and punctures in Croatia had dented the Irishman’s confidence.
A challenging first half of the season has played out while rookie team-mate Jon Armstrong has produced a series of impressive performances.
Armstrong once again impressed in Greece to net a maiden stage win before a turbo failure ultimately resulted in the Northern Irishman retiring his Ford Puma from third on Friday afternoon.
McErlean also delivered a head turning performance to survive brutal rough gravel stages, while also setting strong times to cross the finish in fourth. The result arrived after he and co-driver Eoin Treacy performed an ingenious roadside repair on a broken damper on Saturday afternoon.
However, fourth ultimately turned to sixth after a one-minute penalty was issued after his co-driver Treacy failed to fasten his seatbelt properly after a heart stopping off-road excursion that threatened to end their rally on the spot in stage 16.
Sixth still surpassed McErlean’s previous best WRC finish of seventh achieved at Monte Carlo, Finland and Central Europe last year.
“After such a disaster of a start to the year, it is nice to finally put everything together, do a good rally and get a good result," McErlean told Motorsport.com. "It is the best result we have ever had in the WRC.
“I thought it was over [in stage 16], to be honest. I just missed the braking a bit. Obviously, with the tyres at that point, they were quite hot, and we just slid. The front wheels got stuck and I could nearly feel it dropping in.
“I put it into reverse and it just started to spin. I went forward, reversed, and it didn’t go, so I put it into stage mode. I rolled forward a bit more, put it back into stage mode, and buried it and it came out.”
Following such a tough start to the year, McErlean admitted the result provided a much-needed confidence boost, which he hopes to make the most of for the remaining rounds of the year.
“It has been quite a relief. In Monte Carlo I don’t know how many times we went off the road and Portugal was going really well and then we went into the wall at Lousada. I keep on saying this but going home last week to do the Donegal International Rally was a good thing," he added.
“It gave me some confidence back. We were able to match Kris [Meeke, former WRC winner] and, okay, it is a different car, a different championship and different people, but you know the level is there. It gives you some inspiration and motivation. I think it was a good thing.
“These things give confidence and that is what you need in this sport to know that you can fight for good times as well.”
McErlean’s result could prove important for his WRC future given his plans for next season are yet to be resolved.
“You could say that,” he said when asked whether the result helps his position looking towards next season.
“There is no doubt about it. I think it is a sport that is determined by results, and I have never hidden away from that. So, let’s see, and hopefully there is more of the same.”
