McErlean returns to Poland for round seven of the World Rally Championship
Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy driver Josh McErlean will be able to count on previous Rally Poland experience when he tackles the seventh round of the World Rally Championship this weekend.
The rally will mark McErlean’s third WRC outing of the year at the wheel of a Toksport Škoda Fabia RS Rally2.
After an absence of seven years, Rally Poland makes a comeback to the FIA World Rally Championship from 27 to 30 June 2024. In the intervening years, the rally was a round of the FIA European Rally Championship.
Last year McErlean and co-driver James Fulton finished seventh after a spin on the rally’s second day cost them the chance to challenge for third or fourth place.
The Derry/Cavan crew will make good use of that experience as they step up to WRC level again this weekend, but they are fully aware that the rally is also using some roads not visited since 2016.
“We were here last year with the ERC. Only a fifth of the stages are the same as last year, and the rest have not been used since 2016 or 2017. It is nice to have last years’ experience of the Polish stages which will allow us to go hard from the start” said McErlean.
“The rally has many high-speed ruts as well which can be quite a challenge. Having so many new stages, requiring new notes pace notes, levels the playing field. It is going to be a big commitment, but we are looking forward to it. We want to continue the momentum from our pace in Portugal and Sardinia. We will have to push and make the make the most of our prior experience here.”
Rally Poland is the first true high-speed gravel rally of the year, with fast stages, deep ruts and a bountiful supply of crests and jumps. Based in the northern town of Mikołajki, in the heart of the Masurian Lake District, the area is famous for its fast, flowing, and unforgiving gravel stages. The sandy surface can also drastically change in an instant thanks to the unpredictable Polish weather; rain can transform a trouble-free, dry loop into a potentially rally-ending mud bath. Whatever the weather the Polish stages pose a world class challenge to man and machine
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