Motorsport: Josh McErlean hoping to hit the heights in Chile

The M-Sport driver and his Killeagh co-driver Eoin Treacy, are on the second part of their American adventure.

Thu, 11 Sep, 2025 - 20:05

Martin Walsh

Considering it's his maiden season at the top echelon of rallying, journeys into the unknown for Kilrea's Josh McErlean are a frequent occurrence. And this weekend's Rally Chile Bio Bio, round 12 of the World Rally Championship, is another event where learning the vagaries of the local terrain will be key as the series nears its end game in a thrilling crescendo.

The M-Sport driver and his Killeagh co-driver Eoin Treacy, are on the second part of their American adventure. The first, in Rally del Paraguay was advancing well with seventh place until an oil leak - as a result of impact damage - forced them out. Precision and confidence are the hallmarks of this latest round that is known to be of a very demanding nature. Its gravel stages that meander through dense forests and rolling hillsides have varying degrees of visibility due to the weather conditions meanwhile.

It's a pretty daunting task for the Irish pair onboard their M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1, but they will not be overawed by either the task or the occasion. They should also be able to call on the experience of teammate Gregoire Munster, who will have his third Rally Chile outing - with this year's event identical to last year.

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Principal, Richard Millener said: "It’s great to be back in Chile, which is always a challenging and rewarding rally. Grégoire (Munster) comes here with valuable experience, having built up a good set of notes and some strong results in the past, while for Josh this will be a completely fresh challenge. Hopefully the two of them can work together, share their knowledge and end our South American trip on a positive note."

New for both will be the Hankook tyre used in this year's series. Josh McErlean opined: “It’s great to be going to Chile for the next stop in our South American adventure. We will be writing fresh pacenotes as it’s our first time, but we will do our homework and be prepared. It’s a stunning part of the world and I’m looking forward to the challenge and continuing to build momentum on these incredible roads."

On his progress, he added: "We’ve shown some really strong speed, even leading the M-Sport crews on a few rallies, so the potential is there. Now it’s about pulling everything together, keeping it clean and building momentum. Chile is a rally where confidence and rhythm are everything and I’m looking forward to testing myself on these incredible roads.”

In the closest WR contest since 2003, a blanket of just nine points cover the Toyota Gazoo Racing trio of Elfyn Evans (198pts), Kalle Rovanpera (101pts) and Sebastien Ogier (189pts). Hyundai's Ott Tanak (180pts), who won the rally in 2023 (with M-Sport) and 2019 (with Toyota) is also in the title fight but team mate and reigning champion Thierry Hyundai has it all to do with a 48 points deficit to series leader Evans. Based in Concepción, Rally Chile Bio Bío is now in its fourth WRC iteration with some 300 competitive kilometres from today through to Sunday.

On the domestic front the Wexford Volkswagen Rally has attracted an entry of 165 crews for their two-day Wexford based event that begins shortly after 10.00am tomorrow (Saturday) morning. Historically, it's always been a popular event, but given that only some 100 crews started last Sunday's Clare Rally, a round of the national series, it begs the question has the Wexford organisers decision to have a €15,000 prize fund in place paid dividends?

Last year's winner Donegal's Declan Boyle (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) is the top seed with some very familiar opposition including Kilkenny's Eddie Doherty (Skoda Fabia R5) fresh from his maiden national rally championship victory in Clare last Sunday, Donegal's Michael Boyle (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2), Cavan's Gary Kiernan (Ford Fiesta Rally2) and local hero James Stafford (Darrian T90 GTR). Former winners Ballylickey's Daniel Cronin (Citroen C3 Rally2) and Waterford's Andrew Purcell (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) are also in the top ten. There are nine (3x3) stages tomorrow and Sunday.