Josh McErlean (born 16 July 1999) is an Irish

rally driver Rallying is a wide-ranging form of motorsport with various competitive motoring elements such as speed tests (sometimes called "rally racing" in United States), navigation tests, or the ability to reach waypoints or a destination at a prescribed ...

who currently competes in the

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is an international rallying series owned and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the oldest FIA world championship after Formula One. E ...

for M-Sport Ford WRT.

Rally career

Early years

McErlean made his rally debut in 2014. He and cousin Thomas entered the Junior Turkey Run in Northern Ireland and won on their first start, having driven a

Peugeot 107 The Peugeot 107 is a city car produced by France, French automaker Peugeot, launched in June 2005, and produced until 2014. The 107 was developed by the B-Zero project of PSA Peugeot Citroën in a joint venture with Toyota; the Citroën C1 and T ...

. McErlean drove a full season of the Junior 1000 Rally Challenge in Northern Ireland in 2015, taking the title alongside his cousin with four rally victories. The pair returned to defend their title and duly repeated their feat, in addition to winning the Junior 1000 series in Great Britain, where they won six of their eight entered events. In 2017, McErlean joined the

British Rally Championship The British Rally Championship (BRC) is a rallying series based in the United Kingdom. The first championship was run in 1958 and it has been licensed by the Motor Sports Association (MSA) since 1999. MSA has opted not to run the series in ...

at the wheel of a

Citroën C2 R2 Max Citroën ()The double-dot diacritic over the 'e' is a diaeresis () indicating the two vowels are sounded separately, and not as a diphthong. is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded on 4 June 19 ...

, though reliability issues plagued his campaign and he finished ninth in the junior class standings. Having made a sole start in a

Ford Fiesta R2T The Ford Fiesta is a supermini car that was marketed by Ford from 1976 to 2023 over seven generations. Over the years, the Fiesta has mainly been developed and manufactured by Ford's European operations, and had been positioned below the E ...

in July 2017, McErlean drove the car for the entirety of the 2018 season, which he finished 11th in the British Junior class with a sole class podium at the

Ypres Rally The Belgium Ypres Westhoek Rally (BYWR) founded by Frans Thévelin in 1965 is one of the most famous rallies in the European Rally Championship, the Belgian Rally Championship, the British Rally Championship, and the Intercontinental Rally Challe ...

. The Irishman switched cars again for 2019, piloting a

Peugeot 208 R2 The Peugeot 208 Rally4 is a rally car developed and built by Peugeot Sport for the Rally Pyramid regulation of the Rally4 category. It is based upon the Peugeot 208 The Peugeot 208 is a subcompact car (B-segment in Europe) produced by the Frenc ...

in the British Championship. McErlean drove a strong season, winning his class at the

West Cork Rally The West Cork Rally, Clonakilty Park Hotel West Cork Rally is an annual motorsport tarmac rallying event held in Clonakilty, County Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Promoted and organised by Cork Motor Club, the rally began in 1977 and has r ...

, Pirelli International Rally, and Ulster Rally and clinching the junior title a round early, whilst also claiming third in the overall standings. With the help of

Hyundai Hyundai is a former South Korean industrial conglomerate ("''chaebol''"), which was restructured into the following groups: * Hyundai Group, parts of the former conglomerate which have not been divested ** Hyundai Asan, a real estate construction ...

, McErlean was able to make his

WRC WRC may refer to: Broadcasting stations * WRC-TV, a television station (virtual channel 4, digital channel 34) licensed to Washington, D.C., United States * Several radio stations in the Washington, D.C. area: ** WWRC, a radio station (570 AM) l ...

debut, competing in the

Wales Rally GB Wales Rally GB was the most recent iteration of the United Kingdom's premier international rallying, motor rally, which ran under various names since the first event held in 1932. It was consistently a round of the FIA World Rally Championship ( ...

with the i20 R5. He and co-driver Keaton Williams retired on stage six with a mechanical failure.

Tenure with Motorsport Ireland

With full support by

Motorsport Ireland Motorsport Ireland is the National Governing Body for four-wheeled motorsports in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Motorsport Ireland is affiliated to the supreme authority for world motorsport, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA ...

, McErlean was scheduled to enter the

with Hyundai, however the season was cancelled after just one round as a result of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. McErlean went on to compete in the final two rounds of the

European Rally Championship The European Rally Championship (officially FIA European Rally Championship) is an rallying, automobile rally competition held annually on the European continent and organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The champion ...

, before partaking in the Rally Monza in a

WRC3 The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA WRC3 is a support championship of the World Rally Championship. The calendar consists of the same rallies and stages as the parent series and crews usually compete immediately after World Rall ...

entry. McErlean and Williams finished seventh in class. At the start of 2021, McErlean was inducted into the

Hyundai Motorsport Hyundai Motorsport GmbH (HMSG; ) is a division of South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Company responsible for the brand's global motorsport activities. The company was established in December 2012 and is based in Alzenau, Germany. Their princi ...

junior driver programme. After finishing third overall in the

Olympus Rally The Olympus Rally is an event in the motorsport of rallying. While it has usually been run as a national rally, in 1986–1988, it was a round in the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA World Rally Championship, the most recent time a ...

in the US, McErlean took fifth place at his first

appearance of the year in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. The other three rounds, which McErlean contested alongside James Fulton, yielded two further top five finishes, including a third place at the

Rally Catalunya The Rally Catalunya (formerly: Rallye Catalunya) is a rally competition held in the Catalonia region of Spain, on the World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is an international rallying series owned an ...

. He finished ninth in the drivers' standings. McErlean stepped up to the

WRC2 The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA WRC2 is a support championship of the World Rally Championship (WRC). The calendar consists of the same rallies and stages as the parent series and crews usually compete immediately after Rally ...

in 2022, continuing on with Hyundai and Fulton. The season proved challenging, as McErlean only scored a sole top ten finish in

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

. Nevertheless, McErlean remained at Hyundai in

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

. He began the year by making his debut at the

Monte Carlo Rally The Monte Carlo Rally or Rallye Monte-Carlo (officially Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo) is a rallying event organized each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco. From its inception in 1911 by Albert I, Prince of Monaco, Prince Albert I, the rally ...

alongside new co-driver John Rowan, though an exhaust issue on the second day put him out of contention. The pair withdrew from their next scheduled event in

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

as a mark of respect for marque colleague and compatriot

Craig Breen Craig Breen (2 February 1990 – 13 April 2023) was an Irish rally driver who last competed part time for the Hyundai team in the World Rally Championship (WRC). He won the 2012 Super 2000 WRC, scoring class wins in the Monte Carlo Rally, Wale ...

, who had been killed during a pre-event test. McErlean bounced back with a strong drive to seventh in class in

, before reuniting with former co-driver Fulton from the ERC round in Latvia onwards. McErlean progressed to 26th in the WRC2 standings with three points results, while also scoring a season-best fourth at the Latvia ERC event. In , he signed for

Toksport Toksport WRT is a motorsport preparation and race team based at the Nürburgring in Quiddelbach, Germany. The team has prepared cars for, and entered events in 26 motorsport championships around the globe and has won notable FIA championships ...

to drive a

Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 The Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 is a rally car built by Škoda Motorsport that is based on the fourth generation Škoda Fabia production car. It is the second upgraded generational update of the original Fabia R5, replacing the Fabia Rally2 evo. De ...

in the

. McErlean began his campaign by claiming his maiden podium — a second place in

— and fighting for a podium again at the

Rally Italia Sardegna The Rally Italia Sardegna (until 2010 Rally d'Italia Sardegna) is a Rallying, rally competition in Sardinia, Italy, which has been a round of the World Rally Championship (WRC) schedule and also the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC). Chara ...

before a puncture took him out of contention. McErlean also fought for the top positions in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

until he crashed during the penultimate stage. During their remaining four championship-listed rallies, McErlean and Fulton never finished outside the top eight, with a best result of fifth coming in

Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

. They also contested the

Rally Japan Rally Japan (ラリージャパン) is a rally competition held in Hokkaidō, Japan. The event made its debut in the FIA World Rally Championship during the 2004 season. From 2004 to 2007, the event was held on the twisty and narrow gravel road ...

whilst not listed for points. In the WRC2 standings, McErlean finished ninth.

WRC full-timer

In December 2024 it was announced that McErlean and Fulton would join

Grégoire Munster Grégoire Munster (born 24 December 1998) is a professional rally driver. Munster holds dual-citizenship through his Belgian father and Luxembourgish mother, but he drives with a licence from Luxembourg because he receives some financial support f ...

to drive for

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team The M-Sport Ford World Rally Team (formerly "M-Sport World Rally Team", "Qatar M-Sport World Rally Team", and "Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team") is the privately run World Rally Championship team of M-Sport, the firm run by Malcolm Wilson (rally d ...

in the

Rally1 Group Rally1 is a technical specification of rally car for use at the highest level of international rallying in the World Rally Championship (WRC) as determined by the FIA. Despite the use of the word 'Group' in the name, there are not multipl ...

class of the 2025 WRC season. Having kept things clean on debut, McErlean finished seventh in

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...

Rally results

British Junior Rally Championship results

WRC results

* Season still in progress.

WRC-2 results

* Season still in progress.

WRC-3 results

ERC results

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McErlean, Josh 1999 births Living people Irish rally drivers Motorsport people from County Londonderry European Rally Championship drivers M-Sport drivers Toksport WRT drivers World Rally Championship drivers 21st-century sportsmen from Northern Ireland