Motorsport: Jon Armstrong poised for another ERC season 

Jon Armstrong will campaign an M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally2 on his return to the European Rally Championship (ERC). Pic: @World / Red Bull Content Pool.

Fermanagh's Jon Armstrong will return for another full season in the European Rally Championship (ERC) with the M-Sport Ford outfit with Donegal's Shane Byrne as his new co-driver for the eight-round series that begins with Rally Sierra Morena in Spain in early April.

At the end of last year, his first full campaign at the top level of the ERC, Armstrong, who was co-driven by Killeagh's Eoin Treacy, took the runner-up spot in Rally Silesia, where he took seven stage wins. 

A season with four top 10 finishes and that podium spot in Poland has given him the confidence to push harder this season.

From the ranks of the Junior World Rally Championship where he was twice a runner-up, Armstrong was the 2023 ERC3 champion. 

With the experience of a full season aboard the Ford Fiesta Rally2 car he is now well-positioned to make significant inroads for championship success. 

“I’m really looking forward to being back with M-Sport again for the ERC, we can now really build upon everything we learned from last year. We had a really good end to the season, so hopefully we can work on the areas we didn’t capitalise on last year, try to have a really good season and hopefully push to be in the championship fight."

With Treacy moving on to the top tier of the WRC with Josh McErlean, Donegal's Shane Byrne has been enlisted to partner Armstrong and as preparation for the ERC, the pair will compete in next weekend's Clonakilty Park Hotel West Cork Rally. 

“It’s really cool to be doing the West Cork Rally, it’s an event I haven’t done before but looks like there will be some good stages and it’ll be a nice way to kick off the season."

Both Armstrong and Byrne are part of the MI Rally Academy, their participation in the ERC (along with McErlean/Treacy's Rally1 drive in the WRC) would not be possible only for the financial support of philanthropist and former Irish Tarmac champion John Coyne, who remarked: "By supporting Jon (Armstrong) in his second year at the top level of the ERC, we look forward to building on the strong progress he and Eoin Treacy demonstrated in last year’s competition.” 

On Saturday, reigning Northern Ireland rally champion Carryduff's Jonny Greer will debut a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 on the Race & Rally Stages event at the Bishopscourt Race Circuit, the opening round of the Brown & Brown Motorsport UK Northern Ireland Rally Championship. 

With five titles under his belt, the Carryduff driver has Carndonagh’s Aaron McLaughlin and Warrenpoint's Peadar Hurson, in a pair of VW Polo GTi R5's, as opposition. 

Armagh's Darren Gass (Subaru WRC S12B), Clonakilty's Cal McCarthy (Citroen C3 Rally2) and Armagh's Andrew Nesbitt (Ford Fiesta Rally2) are amongst the top ten starters. 

The first of the day's eight stages starts shortly after 9am.

Also on Saturday, the Monaghan Navigation Trial, that is based in Ballinode, brings the curtain down on the National Navigation Trial Championship with the Monaghan crew of Shane Dalton/Ryan Treanor already assured of the title. Treanor won his first title in 2023 with fellow locals Bob Graham and Darragh Kelly along with Dalton on driving duties. 

The first car away is at 9.01pm. On Sunday, the National Loose Surface Autocross gets underway with the Limerick Autocross in Askeaton.

Motorsport Ireland's Larry O'Shea has resigned from his position as media officer and will depart from the sport's governing body at the close of business today.

The seeded list for next weekend's Clonakilty Park Hotel West Cork Rally is as follows: 1. Keith Cronin/Mikie Galvin (Citroen C3 Rally2); 2. Matt Edwards/David Moynihan (Hyundai i20 Rally2); 3. Josh Moffett/Andy Hayes (Citroen C3 Rally2); 4. Jon Armstrong/Shane Byrne (Ford Fiesta Rally2); 5. Eddie Doherty/Tom Murphy (Skoda Fabia R5); 6. Cathan McCourt/ Barry McNulty (Hyundai i20 Rally2); 7. Declan Boyle/Patrick Walsh (Skoda Fabia Rally2); 8. Jonathan Greer/Niall Burns (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2); 9. Daniel Cronin/Donnchadh Burke (Citroen C3 Rally2); 10. Michael Boyle/Dermot McCafferty (VW Polo GTi R5).