Josh McErlean’s sensible start to life as a Rally1 driver was rewarded with a points-scoring result at the Monte Carlo Rally, which Sebastien Ogier won for a record-extending 10th time.
The M-Sport Ford newbie erred on the side of caution for the First Round of the FIA World Rally Championship to come home seventh overall on his top-flight debut alongside Eoin Treacy.
However, despite conceding his grandmother could have completed some of the stages in a quicker time, McErlean was the sole finisher for the British squad in the second works Puma Rally1.
His Luxembourger team-mate Gregoire Munster exited the 93rd running of the iconic meeting on the penultimate stage when he understeered off the road and ended up a bank.
Another experienced Rally1 exponent who fell foul of the continually evolving conditions was Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Takamoto Katsuta.
On Sunday’s opening stage, he lost the rear of his Yaris at a right-hander and was unable to prevent it from sliding off the road.
McErlean had some issues of his own, such as a fogged-up windscreen on the last Saturday stage and familiarising himself with the car’s anti-lag system, but he still achieved a career-best result.
“It is a big relief to get to the finish after the conditions we faced all weekend,” said the Kilrea man, whose focus now turns to the Rally Sweden on February 15-18 – the only pure winter event on the calendar.
“It is only the beginning of what is going to be a big year ahead, and hopefully it will get easier for us, but we’ve got better over the weekend, we’ve improved step-by-step.
“For sure, to get this opportunity, it’s come a bit earlier than I expected, and jumping in at the deep end is always going to be a challenge – especially at somewhere like Monte Carlo where we have had snow, ice, mud, dry and damp tarmac, everything – but to complete all of the stages with a new car, co-driver, team and new tyres and to finish back up in Monaco is nice.”
At the sharp end of the Rally1 field, Ogier was once again in a league of his own on his home fixture, which he won by 18.5 seconds from his Toyota Gazoo Racing team-mate Elfyn Evans.
The eight-time World champion flirted with a ditch on Thursday but bounced back and moved ahead of Evans and into the lead on Friday afternoon where he stayed with Vincent Landais.
“I don’t know where to start,” said Ogier.
“I have had my lucky star with me this weekend – my uncle, who we lost one year ago. I’m sure he was bringing me everything. This one is for him.”