The other WRC2 driver heading to the US this week

Josh McErlean’s not the only one with WRC2 experience heading Stateside this week. Elsewhere, a wrong is about to be put right.

America’s most experienced World Rally Championship pedaler of late will finally start his first-ever rally in the USA when he takes on Overmountain Rally Tennessee.

Enter stage sideways, Sean Johnston.

Johnston’s name has been missing from the entry lists since January 2023 after a nasty shunt on the Monte Carlo Rally spelled the end of his time in WRC2.

But after painfully peering through the glass as his friends and rivals tore up the stages, Johnston’s time has finally come; the fact he’s finally getting to drive on home soil is a mere bonus.

He’ll steer the Ford Fiesta Rally3 from Element Rally Sport that Javier Olivares claimed this year’s ARA L4WD title in.

“I’m very excited to finally drive my first rally in the US. I’m super grateful for the opportunity,” Johnston told DirtFish.

“If this goes well we’ll see if we can come up with some ideas to maybe do something in a Rally2 car come Rally USA time, but this is the first step in a program we’re trying to build.

“My objective for the weekend is just to have fun, enjoy the sport of rallying and just get back into it,” he added.

“In terms of performance objectives, we’ve seen in previous ARA events that if some of the Subarus come into trouble a podium is not out of the question in a Rally3 car.

“[But] I’m not attached to being on the podium, like I said we just want to get back into it, have a blast and drive a Rally3 car sideways through some nice mountains and give the American fans a nice show.”

Johnston will be reunited with co-driver Alex Kihurani, who has sat beside him for all-but-one of his rallies so far.

“We’ve been on an incredible journey together and for me there’s every reason to continue working together,” Johnston said.

“The nice thing about Alex’s program in the BRC [British Rally Championship] is there’s no overlap here with what we’re doing for this ARA event, and Alex has the time and capacity to do both so everyone’s stoked.

“I’ve been glad during this time when I haven’t been able to compete that Alex has with Chris [Ingram] – they’re having great success and I’m really, really happy for them. Definitely pulling for them to wrap up the championship!

“Alex and I have a great relationship and know how to work together, so we’re both very excited to hop back into a car together and especially for Alex as well to compete in the US for the first time in almost a decade.”

As Johnston already referenced, Overmountain is both a brilliant opportunity and a stepping-stone for more in the future.

Johnston, who has long wished to be the first American to compete as a full-time factory driver in the WRC, pragmatically concedes that that may no longer be a possibility, but Rally USA’s potential future inclusion in the WRC would create an opportunity he’d be keen to utilize.

“For me there’s every reason to keep pushing at least to get back into a WRC2 program,” Johnston explained.

“The ship may have sailed at this point for a full-fledged WRC bid, but I think about doing one-offs in the future – Rally USA is for sure a target for us. While I’ve been forced to take a break, nothing has changed with my strategy and efforts to continue positioning myself as the only American with World Rally experience.

“So if I could envision a perfect program for myself it would be WRC2 plus maybe a Dakar program plus doing Rally USA in a World Rally Car.

“That’s the kind of thing that I would love to try and raise the sponsorship and find a new partner to build a program with because I still love the sport of rallying, I feel like I’m not done with it by any means.

“It’s been really, really heartbreaking for me these last years to sit on the sidelines and watch it all happen, but I have a great passion for the sport and I don’t feel done at all.”