Irish crews battle through bruising Rally Chile weekend
Rally Chile delivered a demanding South American finale for the Irish interest in the World Rally Championship, with changing grip levels, heavy mud, punctures and one sizeable Saturday scare all shaping a hard-earned weekend in the forests around Concepción.
For Kilrea’s Josh McErlean and co-driver Eoin Treacy, the objective was clear from the outset: build pace, stay consistent and return another solid result for the team. They achieved just that, bringing their Rally1 car home seventh overall after three days that offered little margin for error.
Friday morning immediately set the tone. Muddy stages made grip difficult to judge, but McErlean settled into the rally well and found himself in a close intra-team fight with Kesh driver Jon Armstrong during the afternoon loop. By the end of the opening day, McErlean had edged ahead and sat seventh overall, giving the Irish pairing a useful platform for the weekend.
Saturday proved more complicated. A puncture on the opening stage of the day cost McErlean almost a minute and knocked momentum from his morning. He also struggled to find the ideal set-up during the first loop, but changes made at service helped restore confidence in the afternoon.
His target then became closing the gap to Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi, but hopes of applying pressure were hampered by a 10-second penalty after a late service issue caused McErlean and Treacy to check in one minute late. The delay left them nearly a minute behind the Finn, and although their stage pace remained competitive, they ended Saturday still holding seventh overall.
Sunday was about control and survival, but there was still late drama. On SS14, McErlean outbraked himself over a crest, stalled the engine and rolled into a bank, losing the front bumper in the process. Crucially, there was no major damage, and the crew carried on with a reduced aerodynamic package before going eighth-fastest on the Power Stage and securing seventh overall.
“It’s been a weekend of ups and downs,” said McErlean. “Cleaning the road on Friday came with a lot of mud, but it’s been nice to finish our South American adventure with sixth in Paraguay and seventh here in Chile. They were really tough events for the team, but we still managed to get two finishes, and hopefully in Sardinia we can have some advantage with our road position.”
Armstrong and co-driver Shane Byrne arrived at Rally Chile seeking another clean finish as they continue to gather experience in their maiden WRC top-flight season. Making their Rally Chile debut, the pair started tidily on Friday and improved their pace as the day progressed, despite the same tricky grip conditions that challenged the field.
During the afternoon loop they briefly moved ahead of McErlean and Treacy into seventh, only to lose the place again on the day’s final stage. Even so, Armstrong ended Friday just 2.4 seconds behind his team-mate and with plenty of encouragement to take into Saturday.
The second day, however, brought the major setback of his rally. On SS8, understeer through a corner dragged the car into a bank and caused it to roll, damaging the front. Spectators helped right the car and Armstrong was able to complete the stage slowly, but cooling system damage discovered on the road section forced the crew to retire for the day and return under Super Rally rules.
It was a frustrating blow given the emphasis on a clean weekend, but the team repaired the car and Armstrong reset for Sunday. He responded with a drama-free final leg, including seventh-fastest time on the penultimate stage, before reaching the finish 33rd overall.
“It wasn’t our goal to have Saturday end up like that,” Armstrong admitted. “We really wanted to have a clean event. Friday was tricky because of the wet weather, so it was pleasing to get through that cleanly. Then on Saturday’s second stage, I thought I remembered a corner quite well, but it was shorter than I expected before it tightened. We ran wide, touched the bank, rolled and damaged the front of the car, and had to Super Rally.”
He added that the pace is there when the rhythm comes, but the focus now is on putting complete rallies together and converting those flashes into cleaner results across the remainder of the campaign.
There was further Irish interest on the Toyota side, where Cavan’s James Fulton stepped in alongside Takamoto Katsuta for the first time, with regular co-driver Aaron Johnston missing the event due to injury from a crash on the previous round.
Katsuta helped Toyota celebrate another manufacturers’ title and paid tribute to both Fulton and Johnston after the finish. “I’m very proud to be part of this team and of another manufacturers’ title,” he said. “This title is mainly because every single person in the team is working so hard and pushing all the time. A big thank you to James, who did an amazing job, and to Aaron, who was also helping us remotely.”
Elsewhere, Craig Rahill and Conor Smith finished 20th overall in their Rally3 Fiesta, while Bangor’s Allan Harryman came home 32nd alongside George Vasilakis. It rounded out a busy weekend for the Irish contingent, with strong finishes, bruising lessons and valuable South American mileage all banked before the championship moves on.
