McErlean set for a snowy Sweden
Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy driver Josh McErlean will tackle round two of the FIA World Rally Championship [WRC], Rally Sweden next week [13-16 February] behind the wheel of his M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1.
The unique snow-bound event marks his second event in the top tier of the WRC, following an impressive Rally1 debut at Rallye Monte Carlo where he secured an inspiring seventh-place finish.
The 25-year-old from Kilrea will be faced with yet another steep learning curve, as he and co-driver Eoin Treacy sample the sport's highest level on the ice and snow of the specialist rally for the very first time.
Rally Sweden, renowned for its high-speed and unforgiving stages, will test McErlean’s adaptability, having only previously contested the event in 2022. He will need to call on all of his prior experience of the wintery conditions, and coupled with his knowledge of the Puma Rally1 gained from Rallye Monte Carlo, he will be searching for another points scoring finish to add to his tally.
“Rally Sweden in a Rally1 car will be like nothing else I’ve ever experienced before, but that’s going to be a theme of the season really,” says McErlean.
“It’s such a specialist event that takes years to master so, pretty much like Monte, our expectations remain realistic and that is quite simply to do our best for the M-Sport team and try to gain some points for our season”.
The event remains the only WRC round run entirely on snow and ice, creating a spectacular winter challenge that requires pinpoint precision and accuracy from the crew. From its base in Umeå, over 300 kilometres of ultra-high-speed stages lie in wait, with cars often floating over the thick ice and glancing off the thick snowbanks which line the stages.
With temperatures often as low as -25°C, the challenges are not just confined to the stages and McErlean, along with M-Sport and the Mi Rally Academy, have been working hard behind the scenes to prepare for the challenging rally.
“We have been able to conduct some winter testing to enable me to get a feel for the Puma on the ice and snow, but I’m fully aware that getting the most out of the car will take some time from my side” continues McErlean.
“The plan was always to take the first few rounds step by step as they are so specialist, and that approach clearly worked in Monte Carlo; we learnt so much on that event. Rally Sweden is always incredible. It's always a special event with the unique challenge of the surface. The grip these cars can generate with the studded tyres is something else”.
Rally Sweden gets underway on Thursday [13 February] with a short super special before a full day Friday, the longest of the event. Saturday offers seven tests before the final three stages round out the rally the following day.
McErlean is backed by Woodland NI, Admore Air Conditioning, SDC Trailers, Hutchinson Engineering, McCormack Contracting Inc, Fastener Connections, Shamrock Building Systems and EC Framing Inc.