2026 WRC News & Rumours

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Originally Posted by Steve Boyd

Oooh! Careful. I think you'll find they are Irish. Calling them British is worse than calling a Swede a Fin! :)

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They are both actually from Northern Ireland which is (still) British...

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Originally Posted by saco0o

would I - as a racer - ever skip the opportunity to move up from R5 to rally1s?? NEVER! I'd do it in a heartbeat, for sure.

...HOWEVER.... its going to suck because it takes time to get used to this car.
natural bad results are going to put pressure on him to perform - which will cause self doubts and criticizm
you know.... its the same for everybody. take Sesks, Pajari, even Oli when he first came in.

but im 100% back to follow the WRC now haha #ARMYstrong!

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Indeed, you would never turn down a full season in any car, let alone a Rally1.

And with the M-Sport uncertainty for 2027 who knows if theyll even have a car for WRC after next year.

Armstrong deserves his chance thanks to his progress in ERC and isnt taking a seat from Sesks or anyone else. It's all down to funding if you want a drive.

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Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC

They are both actually from Northern Ireland which is (still) British...

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Josh has used the Irish flag for as long as I can check, even when he was doing the British Championship, but Armstrong only since a couple of years.
Did Armstrong start using the Irish flag as a requirement for Motorsport Ireland funding?

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Originally Posted by Steve Boyd

Oooh! Careful. I think you'll find they are Irish. Calling them British is worse than calling a Swede a Fin! :)

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Hehe. I wouldn´t mind be called finnish. However my bad. Although brittish is involved, right? Guess one part is called MSport... ;)

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Originally Posted by focus206

Josh has used the Irish flag for as long as I can check, even when he was doing the British Championship, but Armstrong only since a couple of years.
Did Armstrong start using the Irish flag as a requirement for Motorsport Ireland funding?

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I think this is the difference between national / regional regulations and World?/

In regional you can run where your license comes from.

In the World Champiionship you run where your passport comes from.

Timo Jouhki got plenty of Finnish drivers with questionable pedigree into "works" seats so why shouldnt John Coyne?

The FFSA's investment in French drivers has paid off handsomely and whilst you may have to squint to see Josh and Jon reaching the dizzy heights of Ogier it just goes to prove that the sport is about $ in the first instance these days more than ever before

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Originally Posted by focus206

Josh has used the Irish flag for as long as I can check, even when he was doing the British Championship, but Armstrong only since a couple of years.
Did Armstrong start using the Irish flag as a requirement for Motorsport Ireland funding?

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Quite possibly.

Jon Armstrong isnt an 'Irish name' and he's from Kesh which is 77% Protestant with 72% having a British identity.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kesh,_County_Fermanagh

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Originally Posted by Sal yet again

Timo Jouhki got plenty of Finnish drivers with questionable pedigree into "works" seats so why shouldnt John Coyne?

The FFSA's investment in French drivers has paid off handsomely and whilst you may have to squint to see Josh and Jon reaching the dizzy heights of Ogier it just goes to prove that the sport is about $ in the first instance these days more than ever before

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Actually like it´s been for 30 -40 years, though.

Munster with part-time Rally1 programme story...

https://rallyjournal.com/source-greg...t-muD7QL-fTzqQ

Good for Munster. I doubt he would be top3 in Rally2, though. Better to stay up there and drive on experience where nobody expects big from you, if funding allows. We can see where all those "back-steppers" are today - Greensmith, Loubet, Sunninen, Lefebre ...only very natural speed guys can climb back - Tanak, Evans, Solberg, Fourmaux.

I hope Sesks is approached by some of those who already work on 2027, to develop their car and have a seat in 2027. To spend time in WRC as One Trick Ponny again going to the same events as last year would give benefit only if he could be really close to top based on the gained experience 2025. But I doubt that Puma is fast on harder surface than desert sand. If in Finland he would be still a leading Ford but at 6th place, everyone would start to write him off again. As it was this year.