Nightmare start as McErlean and Heller stop on Rally Chile Day two opening stage
13th September 2025M-Sport Ford’s Joshua McErlean and Alberto Heller have stopped on the opening stage of day two at the World Rally Championship’s Rally Chile.
Feature image credit: Jaanus Ree // Red Bull Content Pool
M-Sport suffered dual problems on the opening stage of day two, Pelún 1, as the sport continued from Friday’s action in Chile. Both McErlean and, Chile driver, Heller were forced to stop on Saturday’s first stage of six with mechanical problems.
McErlean stopped 3.1km into the stage, accompanied by Heller, who was closer to the start, 800m, than his Irish teammate when he pulled off to the side of the course.
Replays showed that the Irishman had technical problems as his car lost power, and he quickly pulled into an access entry point to examine the issue. At the same time, Heller suffered mechanical issues as his Puma would not turn over after stopping on the course.
It was reported that Heller managed to get his car going again, but later stopped alongside McErlean. Both drivers have been reported as retired for the event today, according to the WRC.
Both drivers were the first to head out onto the stage, with Heller leaving first ahead of McErlean, due to their positioning in the leaderboard, with Heller lowest of the Rally1 runners in 12th and McErlean in 10th.
This leaves Gregoire Munster as the only Puma still in action for M-Sport Ford, with four stages remaining of the day, down in fifth.
The problem follows on from an adventurous opening day for McErlean, who had suffered a high-speed spin at a left-hand bend on Friday’s opening loop. The Irishman managed to continue, but his Puma was wounded after it lost the front bumper.
Read more WRC here:
- Rally Chile: what is the schedule for the WRC?
- Kalle Rovanpera loses WRC Rally Paraguay lead after puncture
- Kalle Rovanpera leads WRC Rally Paraguay after demanding opening day
- Takamoto Katsuta crashes on penultimate stage of Rally Paraguay
- Rally del Paraguay: the schedule and times
- Elfyn Evans expects challenge to keep lead at WRC Rally Paraguay
Please follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up with the latest news from ApexMotorsports.co.uk!
You can also support us on Patreon or our website!
Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
