Win for Mcerlean secures him the Junior crown as Williams suffers late woe
In only his third season as a Junior British Rally Championship driver, Josh Mcerlean secured the title in the most dramatic fashion on home soil at the wheel of his family-run Peugeot.
It could have been so very different however had Mcerlean not picked up on a knocking sound that was narrowed down to the 208 R2’s transmission tunnel on Friday’s short shakedown stage.
Given what was at stake, his team of mechanics removed the gearbox from the car and set to work stripping it down where a broken seal was found to be the guilty party. They burnt the midnight oil and had the unit fixed, rebuilt and refitted by 0100hrs the following morning.
That should have been that, but during the first three stages of the Ulster Rally Mcerlean had to contend with a spongy brake pedal. Despite this, he was still the fastest Junior from the Ford Fiesta R2T of James Williams, by 10 seconds, and 29.8s clear of Marty Gallagher.
William Creighton had a strong mathematical chance of extending the title race to the final round in Scotland. But on SS2 he overshot and pierced the radiator on his Peugeot. He made it to service where the part was replaced, but the damage to his championship bid was done.
The focus switched back to Mcerlean and Williams on a surface both drivers have shown real pace on this year. Mcerlean admitted that the JBRC title had got into his head perhaps a little too much during the middle loop which allowed his rival to move into a 7s lead.
Behind them, Gallagher retired from third on SS4 because of injector gremlins. On the next stage a wrong pace note by Finlay Retson’s navigator Richard Crozier catapulted them off the road. “We were too fast into a corner and the impact with a bank sent us into a field,” he said.
Back at the front and the turning point came on SS7 when the turbo pipe worked itself loose on Williams’ Fiesta after a heavy landing. Now in front, and with the bit between his teeth, Mcerlean raced clear to win by 32.5s.
Last year’s Junior winner Jordan Hone (Opel Adam R2) chipped away to net third. “The car was faultless all day,” he said. “It is just a shame about my driving!”