The Portuguese gravel stages provided a weekend of contrasting fortunes for the two Irish crews in the M-Sport camp, as Josh McErlean and Jon Armstrong both traded times with the world’s elite.
McErlean and Treacy claim Sunday spoils
Josh McErlean and Cork co-driver Eoin Treacy endured a difficult path to the finish. After a sensor issue on Friday led to a 50-second road penalty, the pair fought back to ninth overall before the weather turned on Saturday. A spin in the brush on the Amarante stage was followed by a heavy impact with a concrete wall during the Lousada Super Special, which ended their day prematurely.
However, the Derry-Cork duo responded on Sunday morning. During the first pass of the iconic Fafe stage, McErlean and Treacy set a blistering pace to claim the fastest overall time of the rally at that point. They held the lead through the entire field of WRC cars, only being denied the stage win at the very last minute as road conditions dried for a later runner.
Josh McErlean said: “Rally Portugal is done and dusted. It’s been quite competitive this weekend with plenty of ups and downs. We nearly secured the stage win today in Fafe, which was special, but we were just edged out at the very last minute. We faced some issues along the way, and unfortunately hit the wall in Lousasa on Saturday night, probably the worst wall you could hit in rallying! I want to give big thanks to the whole team for their tremendous effort to get us back out today. They were up quite late last night, so thanks to all the lads and ladies for that. Japan is next, and we’re looking forward to it and getting back on Tarmac, before the summer gravel rallies.”
Armstrong proves speed despite retirement
Jon Armstrong and Shane Byrne faced physical challenges early on when power steering failure on Friday forced them to muscle their car through the afternoon loop. Despite the time loss, the Fermanagh driver showed his raw speed on Saturday morning.
In the treacherous, low-grip conditions of the Paredes stage, Armstrong delivered a standout performance to set the third-fastest time overall, finishing ahead of several factory WRC stars. His rally came to an early end on Saturday afternoon when he clipped a rock face just 0.6km into the loop, resulting in a roll that forced the crew to withdraw.
Jon Armstrong said: “It’s disappointing to retire while we were fighting our way back into the points after the mechanical issues on Friday. The margins are fine at this level, and unfortunately this time it didn’t go our way. Portugal is a great event, but it hasn’t been my luckiest yet. I’m really looking forward to the upcoming rallies and coming back stronger.”
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