Motorsport: McErlean and Treacy seventh in Chile
The Irish crew of Kilrea's Josh McErlean and Killeagh's Eoin Treacy (Ford Puma Rally1) in action during Rally Chile Bio Bio, round twelve of the World Rally Championship. Picture: Jaanus Ree / Red Bull Content Pool.
Josh McErlean/Eoin Treacy (Ford Puma Rally1) were the top Irish crew in Rally Chile Bio Bio finishing seventh overall as teammates Jon Armstrong/Shane Byrne had another difficult event after they retired during Saturday's second leg when they rolled their Ford Puma on its side.
The event was won by Oliver Solberg, who finished 16.6s ahead of his Toyota team Sebastien Ogier with Hyundai's Adrien Fourmaux third and series leader Elfyn Evans fifth.
After finishing Friday's opening leg (six stages) in a respective seventh and eighth place and 2.4s apart McErlean and Armstrong were in trouble early on Saturday's leg. On SS7 McErlean's Ford Puma Rally1 suffered a rear left puncture and he dropped a place. Armstrong, who needed to finish the rally, actually moved into sixth - benefitting from McErlean's puncture and the exit of Thierry Neuville, who barrel-rolled his Hyundai i20 N Rally1, the damage could not be repaired to allow him re-join under Super Rally.
Then on the next stage Armstrong rolled his Ford Puma on to its side on a right hander and while he finished the stage, he retired on the road section. Meanwhile, Toyota's Oliver Solberg continue to lead the way and finished Saturday's stages with a 19.1s lead over series leader Evans, who came under pressure from Sebastien Ogier, who won four stages to cut the deficit to Evans to just 1.3s. Elsewhere, Cavan's Craig Rahill (Ford Fiesta Rally3) took a stage win to hold third in the Junior WRC.
Yesterday, as Evans seemed set to extend his championship lead, there was drama on the penultimate stage when he was forced to stop and change a punctured wheel and he slipped from second to fifth as stage winner Ogier moved into second - 13.3s behind Solberg. McErlean continued in seventh as Armstrong continued to rebuild his confidence.
Evans retains the championship lead but team mates Sami Pajari and Solberg are now only 17 and 21 points (respectively) behind.
Meanwhile, Ballylickey's Daniel Cronin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) won the Wexford Rally for the second time in three years. By the completion of the 18-stage event and co-driven by Padraig O'Donovan, they finished 42.6s ahead of the Ford Fiesta of Donegal's Ryan McHugh/James McBrearty. Early leaders Clonmel's Casey Jay Coleman and Monaghan's Killian McArdle (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) made a fine recovery to complete the podium places - albeit almost three minutes further behind.
Fresh from his exploits in the Rally3 category of the European Rally Championship, Casey Jay Coleman made the transition to Rally2 with telling effect setting the fastest times on all three stages of the opening loop. Wet conditions made for slippery conditions, especially on the shiny tar sections as Coleman led Cronin by 14.5s over half of which was garnered on the first stage where both were somewhat cautious. Struggling on SS1, McHugh set a good pace on the third stage and continued in third - 5.1s behind Cronin. Rally leader Coleman didn't take any chances on the third stage where it rained heavily. Mayo's John Warren (Ford Fiesta Rally2) had to contend with some understeer and finished the loop 28.9s of top spot. Waterford's Simon Reid (Ford Escort) led the two-wheel drive category despite an overshoot and a misted windscreen, he was fifth overall 15.3s ahead of the similar car of Cavan's Chris Armstrong.
The event took a decisive turn on SS6 when Coleman overshot a junction and in attempt to minimise time loss, a handbrake turn resulted in a wheel of his Ford Fiesta Rally2 dropping into a drain. He lost well over three and a half minutes as spectators helped to extricate his car before he re-joined the stage, He arrived at the service park down in fourteenth place - three minutes and 19.3s behind new rally leader Cronin, who was 7.8s ahead of McHugh followed by Warren.
Coleman, with three stages wins, gained 9.9s on Cronin from the final loop and finished the leg in sixth place as Cronin led McHugh by 11.8s with Warren 22.8s further behind.
Over yesterday's (Sunday) first loop of stages Cronin extended his advantage to 15.7s with McHugh lucky that an altercation on SS11 didn't result in any major damage, third placed Warren had an overshoot on the same stage and Coleman punctured and lost some twenty seconds.
On SS13, Warren retired his Ford Fiesta after clipping a rock that damaged a wheel and the steering mechanism; Coleman moved into third. Cronin went on to win by 42.6s with McHugh and Coleman completing the top three followed by Brennan and Bradley.
1. O. Solberg/E. Edmondson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 2h. 57m. 08.2s; 2. S. Ogier/V. Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+16.6s; 3. A. Fourmaux/A. Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1)+33.3s; 4. S. Pajari/M. Salminen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+1m. 33.9s; 5. E. Evans/S. Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+2m., 22.3s; 6. E. Lappi/E. Mälkönen (Hyundai i20 N Rally1)+5m. 07.0s; 7. J. McErlean/E. Treacy (Ford Puma Rally1)+7m. 31.5s; 8. Y. Rossel/A. Dunand (Lancia Ypsilon Rally2)+9m. 31.0s; 9. R. Virves/J. Viilo (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2)+10m. 24.0s; 10. G. Greensmith/J. Andersson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2)+10m. 58.2s.
1. Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT 614pts; 2. Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT 410pts; 3. Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT2 227pts; 4. M-Sport Ford World Rally Team 152pts.
1. E. Evans 230pts; 2. S. Pajari 213pts; 3. O. Solberg 209pts 4. S. Ogier 171pts; 5. A. Fourmaux 167pts; 6. T. Katsuta 163pts; 7. T. Neuville 129pts; 8. H. Paddon 38pts; 9. J. McErlean 35pts; 10. E. Lappi 33pts.
1. D. Cronin/P. O'Donovan (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) 1h. 51m. 32.8s; 2. R. McHugh/J. McBrearty (Ford Fiesta Rally2)+42.6s; 3. C. J. Coleman/K. McArdle (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2)+3m. 39.8s; 4. J. Brennan/J. McGrath (Ford Fiesta Rally3)+5m. 28.9s; 5. J. Bradley/S. O'Dowd (Ford Escort)+6m. 29.2s; 6. A. Hetherington/G. Nolan (Ford Escort)+6m. 52.4s; 7. S. Wood/K. Hull (VW Polo GTi R5)+6m. 54.0s; 8. S. Morrison/B. Teggart (Ford Escort)+8m. 03.4s; 9. B. Bolger/J. McEneaney (Ford Fiesta Rally2)+8m. 22.6s; 10. B. Hennessy/T. Delaney (Ford Escort)+8m. 34.0s.
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