Motorsport: McErlean eyeing improvement after solid start for Irish in Portugal

The opening three stages were in dry conditions.

Thu, 07 May, 2026 - 16:48

Martin Walsh

The Irish M-Sport Ford crews of Josh McErlean/Eoin Treacy and Jon Armstrong/Shane Byrne got safely through the opening leg of Vodafone Rally de Portugal, round six of the World Rally Championship and the first European gravel event of the campaign, they are ninth and 10th respectively. Sweden's Oliver Solberg (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) has a 3.4s overnight advantage over French driver Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) with his compatriot Sebastien Ogier (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 3.8s further behind in third.

With the threat of rain for the rest of the weekend, the opening three stages were in dry conditions.

Fourmaux (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) was quickest on the opening 15- kilometre stage that contained loose gravel on the early section and a breaking surface towards the end, the French driver was careful on the tarmac section entering the rallycross track. Evans, considering he was running first on the road, was only 0.1s slower than Fourmaux with Solberg 0.2s off the lead, he too was very careful on the tarmac section.

Spaniard Dani Sordo (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) in fourth was happy with the balance of his car as Sami Pajari thought it was tricky to trust the conditions, his Toyota team mates Takamoto Katsuta and Sebastien Ogier followed with the latter struggling with the balance of his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1.

McErlean was best of the Irish drivers, he held eighth - 6.1s off the lead while Armstrong, two places and four seconds behind his M-Sport Ford team mate said, "Yeah, sure we can improve but the car is wandering on the tarmac section." Having chosen four hard tyres, he explained, "We're keeping the softs for later."

Even though he reckoned he didn't have "the feeling" Solberg was best on the 20km second stage to move into the lead 3.4s ahead of Fourmaux as Neuville, who endured a half spin on the first stage, moving up six places to third even though he felt there was no grip. Having made a few changes Ogier (fourth) made up three places as championship leader Evans dropped to fifth. Armstrong was 4.6s faster than McErlean as the pair completed the top ten.

Ogier and Evans shared the stage win on the "Super Special" where McErlean was only 0.7s shy of the fastest time to move ahead of Armstrong. At the stage finish McErlean said, It's been an okay day, we lost a bit of rhythm (on SS2), which hampered us a bit, but the first one was good. Let's try to take that into tomorrow." There are seven stages in today's (Friday) second leg.

Meanwhile, Clonakilty's Cal McCarthy (Citroen C3 Rally2) and his Rosscarbery co-driver Eric Calnan return to the Manx National Rally that begins this (Friday) morning. Twelve months ago and lying sixth overall, a mechanical issue forced them out of the event. This time around they are aiming for a top finish on the twenty-two stage event, three of today's ten stages are under the cover of darkness. They are seeded at seven with Cookstown's Ryan Loughran (Ford Fiesta Rally2) at five. Jersey's Sam Touzel (Ford Fieswasta Rally2) is the top seed. Donegal's Donagh Kelly and Derry's Marty McCormack, both in BMW M3's and Donegal's Damien Tourish (Ford Escort) compete in the Historic category.

The Brands Hatch racing circuit in Kent is the latest venue for motor racing returnee Michael Keohane this weekend in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB series. The Century Motorsport driver is targeting strong finishes in the Master's category over the pair of races on Indy circuit on Sunday (10.00am and 1.50pm). He last raced in Brands Hatch all of twenty-four years ago. There are two fifteen minute qualifying sessions tomorrow. Although he didn't finish either race on his comeback last month, he showed fine pace and this time may have to balance his position in Master's category with his natural racing instinct to garner points. "Brands Hatch is a great circuit, right up there as one of my favourites. I haven't raced there as much as I have raced in Donington Park, but you can get into a nice rhythm although it is physically demanding."

Vodafone Rally de Portugal (Round 6, World Rally Championship) Matosinhos, Porto: 1. O. Solberg/E. Edmondson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 28m. 00s; 2. A. Fourmaux/A. Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1)+3.4s; 3. S. Ogier/V. Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+7.2s; 4. T. Neuville/M. Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1)+7.4s; 5. E. Evans/S. Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+7.5s; 6. S. Pajari/M. Salminen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+10.7s; 7. D. Sordo/C. Carrera (Hyundai i20 N Rally1)+11.7s; 8. T. Katsuta/A. Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+15.9s; 9. J. McErlean/E. Treacy (Ford Puma Rally1)+23.4s; 10. J. Armstrong/S. Byrne (Ford Puma Rally1)+24.8s.

Weekend Motorsport Diary Saturday:

Vofafone Rally de Portugal (Round 6, World Rally Championship) Matosinhos, Porto; British Touring Car Championship & Porsche Carrera Cup GB, Brands Hatch, Kent; Manx National Rally, Isle of Man.

Sunday Vodafone Rally de Portugal (Round 6, World Rally Championship) Matosinhos, Porto; British Touring Car Championship & Porsche Carrera Cup GB, Brands Hatch, Kent.