Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy driver Josh McErlean arrives at Rally Sweden this weekend [12-15 February] focused on leaving a punishing Rallye Monte-Carlo behind and kick-starting his 2026 FIA World Rally Championship campaign.
Following one of the most extreme Monte-Carlo events in decades, McErlean has been quick to reset and refocus after a difficult start to the season in his M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1. The Irishman endured a challenging curtain raiser after sliding off the road in the wintry conditions, leading to repeated road-opening duties. But the experience has only sharpened his determination heading into round two of the championship.
Rally Sweden, the WRC’s only pure winter event, offers a very different test, and one that plays to McErlean’s growing confidence on snow and ice. He produced several encouraging stage times on the Scandinavian event last season, showing his ability to perform on studded tyres when conditions are more consistent.
A productive pre-event test earlier this week has further bolstered confidence within the M-Sport camp, allowing McErlean to build rhythm and fine-tune his approach ahead of the fast, snow-lined stages around Umeå.
“Sweden is a rally I’m really looking forward to. The conditions are much more consistent, and that gives you a chance to build confidence and commit to driving. There is no experience like threading a Rally1 car through the snow-lined banks either, it’s crazy fast,” says McErlean. “We showed last year that we can set good times here, and that’s something I want to build on. The goal is to be cleaner, more consistent and turn that into a solid result.”
The Irishman is clear that the opening round has already been processed, and attention is now fully on maximising the opportunity that Rally Sweden presents.
“You can’t change what’s already happened, but you can learn from it. The important thing now is to take those lessons and apply them moving forward. We had a positive test this week, which has given me confidence in the car and in what we’re trying to achieve. Now it’s about putting it together on the stages.”
Rally Sweden takes place next week in the far east of the country and is set to be one of the fastest events of the season. A total of eighteen stages spread over 300 kilometres lie in wait, beginning on Thursday night [12 February] with the traditional fan favourite spectator stage ahead of three intense days in sub-zero temperatures.
McErlean is backed by Woodland NI, Admore Air Conditioning, M.P Burke Transport, SDC Trailers, EC Framing, Tulach Properties, Carbon Fusion, Fastener Connections and McCormack Contracting Inc.
Images from M-Sport and Red Bull Content Pool