It's this video: https://youtu.be/N-liL_cpEMQ?si=m5puCfYibsBAOZQ2Quote:
Originally Posted by saco0o
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It's this video: https://youtu.be/N-liL_cpEMQ?si=m5puCfYibsBAOZQ2Quote:
Originally Posted by saco0o
Sesks budget came together. Nice. Expect no more "safe driving to prove consistency" approach. He will want to show the speed again.
But still no tarmac. I find it either as "hiding"/ignoring on purpose to show only the strong side before 2027 (what is the point to learn this car on tarmac if 2027 will be totally different) or as strategic mistake. More seems like doubling down on known rallies to show the speed.
I like Martins and having him in the WRC again. He's a great character and good on fast gravel. His sponsor money is welcome for M-Sport too.
But to be honest he would've been better to do a WRC2 Rally2 programme - it's way cheaper & he could do all events and be well prepared for WRC27.
I wouldn’t spend a penny on a tarmac WRC rally either if i was him. The Puma is relatively weaker on tarmac, he’s not got much experience and he will have road position disadvantage as well. Better to run some tarmac rallies in ERC or something I would think in the R2 car.Quote:
Originally Posted by AndersX
I'm not sure if it's such a good idea to make a step back and go to Rally2 after he already proved that he is faster than half of the Rally1 guys. I think that he has the speed of a Rally1 driver, contrary to McErlean, Munster or Loubet.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC
Of course it's just my amateur opinion only.
He can be very fast on specific gravel events (especially fast or sandy ones). On slower gravel he is not so superb. And on tarmac he was never really fast. Last time on tarmac on Canarias 2024 he was not able to set any time in top 10. Of course it was also because of MRF tyres, which were not competitive there that year, but he was constantly slower than Llarena or Mabellini on same tyres.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jarek Z
It's a fair opinion. It would be hard to return to Rally2 after tasting Rally1 and the very top level.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jarek Z
But while his pace has been better than the other M-Sport drivers, they're not the best quality. And his outright pace has really only been shown on fast gravel.
A full WRC2 Season would help him learn more events, get tarmac experience and be ready for WRC27-spec cars next year.
We have to stop speculate. If there are a team behind him who can find significant funds for 3rd in row year to drive R1 car, they should have a rather good plan. With help of google translate, here they explain everything:
https://www.go4speed.lv/lv/news/wrc/...paplasinasanu/
Knocks, eSports & McRae - the rise of the WRC's new underdog (Jon Armstrong)...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/motorspo...s/c20g7ljg1v0o
YT is overflown of videos from M-Sport PET, 100% drivers will be problem for underperformance....NOT.
Millener verdict on Armstrong and expectations:
https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/m-spo...g-can-achieve/
Podcast on the season so far with Millener & Armstrong / Byrne (who are the best listen) :
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1sL...t=3872&ct=3872
https://www.wrc.com/en/results-and-s...ship-standings
Things seem pretty bleak for M-Sport: seven Toyota/Hyundai WRC1 drivers, then seven assorted WRC2 drivers, then the first M-Sport WRC1 driver.
But I feel in my bones that Armstrong will have some better results this season, and close it up a bit.
Jon Armstrong - He was there all along.
After this weekend’s WRC Croatia Rally, Jon Armstrong and co driver Shane Byrne came away with 9 x top 3 stage times and 6 points gained from 3rd overall on the Sunday stages and 3rd in the hotly contested power stage. A truly remarkable demonstration of pace and ability in only their fourth event in a Rally 1 car.
Should we be surprised? Frankly not..
We’ve known about Jon’s pace and prodigious talent for well over a decade now. Who remembers him setting 2nd fastest overall times on a wet Ulster rally in 2012 in a ST Fiesta? Or racing hard with both Callum Devine and Rob Duggan in the first versions of the R2 cars in 2015 in what I call a golden generation of young drivers?
Since then, he’s had various attempts at JWRC, again with championship winning pace but results getting away for various reasons.
But he never gave up. His belief in himself never wavered. He never doubted that a career in rallying was in his future. He never stopped asking anyone he could to give him a chance, give him his shot. And anyone that could help, generally did but it was always going to something monumental to make it happen.
That monumental thing came in the form of the patron saint of Irish Rallying, John Coyne and the MI rally academy.
A plan was hatched to run Jon in the 2024 ERC in a MSport Fiesta Rally 2 under the Motorsport Ireland banner. Encouraging results with many fastest times followed. A new co driver Shane Byrne was recruited for another assault in 2025 and wins in Rally Ceredigion and Rally Croatia repaid the faith shown in him.
For 2026 Jon and Shane were elevated to the full MSport WRC Rally 1 team, a move that raised a few eyebrows at the time. Many thought it was too much for them. Social media was awash with other names supposedly more deserving but after 4 rounds of this year’s championship, those detractors have fallen completely silent.
Jon has yet to set a fastest time or win a world rally but it’s coming as sure as night follows day. After this weekend, the rally world has really sat up and realised Jon Armstrong has arrived but for most of us in Ireland, he was there all along.