Early years
McErlean made his rally debut in 2014. [2] He and cousin Thomas entered the Junior Turkey Run in Northern Ireland and won on their first start, having driven a Peugeot 107. [3] McErlean drove a full season of the Junior 1000 Rally Challenge in Northern Ireland in 2015, taking the title alongside his cousin with four rally victories. [4] [5] The pair returned to defend their title and duly repeated their feat, in addition to winning the Junior 1000 series in Great Britain, where they won six of their eight entered events. [6] [7]
In 2017, McErlean joined the British Rally Championship at the wheel of a Citroën C2 R2 Max, though reliability issues plagued his campaign and he finished ninth in the junior class standings. [8] [9] Having made a sole start in a Ford Fiesta R2T in July 2017, McErlean drove the car for the entirety of the 2018 season, which he finished 11th in the British Junior class with a sole class podium at the Ypres Rally. [10] [11]
The Irishman switched cars again for 2019, piloting a Peugeot 208 R2 in the British Championship. McErlean drove a strong season, winning his class at the West Cork Rally, Pirelli International Rally, and Ulster Rally and clinching the junior title a round early, whilst also claiming third in the overall standings. [12] [13] With the help of Hyundai, McErlean was able to make his WRC debut, competing in the Wales Rally GB with the i20 R5. [14] He and co-driver Keaton Williams retired on stage six with a mechanical failure. [15]
Tenure with Motorsport Ireland
With full support by Motorsport Ireland, McErlean was scheduled to enter the British Rally Championship with Hyundai, however the season was cancelled after just one round as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. [16] [17] McErlean went on to compete in the final two rounds of the European Rally Championship, before partaking in the Rally Monza in a WRC3 entry. [18] [19] McErlean and Williams finished seventh in class. [20]
At the start of 2021, McErlean was inducted into the Hyundai Motorsport junior driver programme. [21] [22] After finishing third overall in the Olympus Rally in the US, McErlean took fifth place at his first WRC3 appearance of the year in Portugal. [23] [24] [25] The other three rounds, which McErlean contested alongside James Fulton, yielded two further top five finishes, including a third place at the Rally Catalunya. [26] He finished ninth in the drivers' standings. [27]
McErlean stepped up to the WRC2 in 2022, continuing on with Hyundai and Fulton. [28] [29] The season proved challenging, as McErlean only scored a sole top ten finish in Estonia. [30] Nevertheless, McErlean remained at Hyundai in 2023. He began the year by making his debut at the Monte Carlo Rally alongside new co-driver John Rowan, though an exhaust issue on the second day put him out of contention. [31] The pair withdrew from their next scheduled event in Croatia as a mark of respect for marque colleague and compatriot Craig Breen, who had been killed during a pre-event test. [32] McErlean bounced back with a strong drive to seventh in class in Portugal, before reuniting with former co-driver Fulton from the ERC round in Latvia onwards. [33] [34] McErlean progressed to 26th in the WRC2 standings with three points results, while also scoring a season-best fourth at the Latvia ERC event. [35] [36]
In 2024, he signed for Toksport to drive a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 in the WRC2. [37] McErlean began his campaign by claiming his maiden podium — a second place in Portugal — and fighting for a podium again at the Rally Italia Sardegna before a puncture took him out of contention. [38] McErlean also fought for the top positions in Poland until he crashed during the penultimate stage. [39] During their remaining four championship-listed rallies, McErlean and Fulton never finished outside the top eight, with a best result of fifth coming in Central Europe. They also contested the Rally Japan whilst not listed for points. [40] [41] In the WRC2 standings, McErlean finished ninth. [42]
Irish