Armstrong secures ninth as Irish crews battle mixed fortunes in Estonia

A puncture-hit opening day could not stop Jon Armstrong and Shane Byrne from reaching the finish in ninth overall, while Josh McErlean and Eoin Treacy were left to rue a costly mechanical issue.

Jon Armstrong and co-driver Shane Byrne overcame an early scare to claim ninth overall at WRC Estonia, completing their first fast gravel event in a Rally1 car with a measured and increasingly confident performance.

Armstrong’s rally began in difficult fashion when he ran wide over a jump on the opening stage and picked up a puncture. The Kesh driver managed to nurse the car to the end of SS1 without stopping, losing 19.6 seconds to teammate Josh McErlean but slipping to 11th overall behind Mārtiņš Sesks.

After the tyre-fitting zone, Armstrong began to find a stronger rhythm. Focusing on consistency through the demanding stages and shifting afternoon conditions, he set the seventh-fastest time on SS6 and closed the opening day in tenth overall.

Saturday brought another challenge as Armstrong ran early on the road and had to contend with loose gravel and road cleaning through the tight, twisty stages. With grip at a premium, he concentrated on a clean run, traded stage times with Takamoto Katsuta and ended the day ninth overall.

Two controlled runs through Sunday’s Kääriku stage secured ninth place for Armstrong and Byrne, marking a solid result on unfamiliar terrain and giving the pairing valuable experience ahead of Rally Finland.

“It was a bit of a tricky start to the rally,” said Armstrong. “We had the tyre debead on the first stage, over the jump, and then we struggled to make back the time we’d lost. But even without that we’d only have gained one position; the difference was the road position we lost going into Saturday, and we don’t know how much we could have gained with that.”

Armstrong added that the team could be encouraged by the pace shown across the weekend. “When you gauge it against Josh and Mārtiņš in the same car it’s looking quite good, so we’re happy with that, and we’re looking forward to Finland. It’s going to be a good experience in one of these cars.”

McErlean shows pace before mechanical setback

For Josh McErlean and Eoin Treacy, the event promised more after their career-best result in Greece. The Kilrea driver made a steady start on Friday’s opening loop, building confidence across the high-speed stages and benchmarking his pace against the strong times posted by teammate Sesks.

McErlean’s pace improved as the day progressed, and a sixth-fastest time on SS5 helped him end Friday eighth overall and well placed for the remainder of the rally. However, his Saturday charge was halted by an exhaust manifold fault that caused the engine to cut out on SS8, costing the crew more than 10 minutes.

Although McErlean and Treacy were able to patch the issue and reach the end of SS9, the problem ultimately forced them to retire for the day, with the car recovered to service. Restarting on Sunday morning, the pair survived a small moment on SS17 before completing a clean run through the final Power Stage.

McErlean, who finished 43rd overall, said the weekend still offered positives. “It was a bit frustrating, obviously, what happened on Saturday, but our pace on Friday was nice. Sunday was a bit of a struggle starting first on the road, but we’ll keep learning and we have plenty of positives to take into Finland. It’s a big reset for the team this week, and we’ll push on in Finland.”

Katsuta frustrated but focused on Finland

Takamoto Katsuta, driving car 18 with Fintona co-driver Aaron Johnston, also endured a frustrating weekend. While Friday’s road position was always expected to be difficult, Katsuta felt the crew had been managing the challenge before a stop compromised the rest of their rally.

“This weekend did not go the way that we had hoped,” Katsuta said. “We knew that Friday could be difficult with our road position but our pace was not bad and I think we were doing our job quite well until we had to stop. It’s very frustrating but nothing is over, and we keep going and keep pushing. We tested some different things with the car for Rally Finland and I hope we have a good rally there.”