[4][5] 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.

[6][7] In 2017, McErlean joined the British Rally Championship at the wheel of a Citroën C2 R2 Max, though reliability issues plagued his campaign and he finished ninth in the junior class standings.

[15] With full support by Motorsport Ireland, McErlean was scheduled to enter the British Rally Championship with Hyundai, however the season was cancelled after just one round as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He began the year by making his debut at the Monte Carlo Rally alongside new co-driver John Rowan, though an exhaust issue on the second day put him out of contention.

[31] The pair withdrew from their next scheduled event in Croatia as a mark of respect for marque colleague and compatriot Craig Breen, who had been killed during a pre-event test.

[32] McErlean bounced back with a strong drive to seventh in class in Portugal, before reuniting with former co-driver Fulton from the ERC round in Latvia onwards.

[42] In December 2024 it was announced that McErlean and Fulton would join Grégoire Munster to drive for M-Sport Ford World Rally Team in the Rally1 class of the 2025 WRC season.