Taking a step back helped Armstrong end ERC year on high
Jon Armstrong has been fighting for years to find a seat at rallying’s Rally2 table. After a brace of runner-up Junior World Rally Championship finishes and a Rally3 European Rally Championship title, finally Armstrong found his break into Rally2 competition.
A partnership with M-Sport, the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy, and long-term backers like Seacon UK paved the way for the Fermanagh driver’s first full season in ERC’s top category.
The result of six years of ups and downs, doors opening and closing, but most importantly a series of stand-out performances behind the steering wheel – Armstrong’s dream was becoming a reality.
Armstrong recently celebrated his 30th birthday and it is fitting that the rally game designer rounded out his 20s with his finest rally result yet – second overall in ERC’s Rally Silesia finale alongside co-driver Eoin Treacy.
It would be easy to overlook the journey that brought the MI Rally Academy duo to that prestigious point in the season. It just wasn’t as simple as that.
“The step up to Rally2 at the start of the year was harder than I expected,” admitted Armstrong.
“I thought with Rally3 having four-wheel-drive, limited-slip-differentials, and a locked central diff that it wouldn’t be too different. But it took time to understand the chassis movement, and work out damper and spring settings. It was a challenge to understand this from a driving point of view nevermind finding an optimum set-up on each rally.
“You can get used to the speed of a Rally2 car quickly but it definitely took time to recalibrate my brain to gauge how much grip the Fiesta had in each corner.”
The European Rally Championship’s calibre of Rally2 competition has been improving year-on-year. Jumping into the continental series’ top category is not for the faint-hearted.
The step up showed as sixth in Rally Estonia was Armstrong and Treacy’s best result after six rounds despite showing strong pace on multiple occasions.
Competing against the best was where Armstrong wanted to be, though, and he made sure to soak up the atmosphere of starting international rallies inside the top ten.
“The ERC format is brilliant – you get the same All Live coverage as WRC and you are running at the front of these top-tier international events.
“Battling with star drivers like Hayden Paddon and then national heroes on specific events is a nice combination too.
“There was obviously pressure competing against people at that level but towards the end of the year, we cemented ourselves as regular top-five pacesetters.”
Armstrong’s time to shine came on Rali Ceredigion. An early run in the top four was thwarted by a puncture on stage five, dropping the Ford Fiesta Rally2 crew down to 14th.
A string of top two stage times followed on Saturday afternoon before Armstrong and Treacy sealed the fastest time on Sunday’s second test. The slippery Welsh asphalt was suiting the Irish duo as their steller Sunday performance recorded a top result out of the British Rally Championship crews.
That confidence was brought to Poland for ERC’s final round of the year, Rally Silesia. Unfortunately, Armstrong’s hopes were dashed early on with a power issue dropping him to 14th on stage two.
Queue another comeback.
Two fastest times pushed Armstrong and Treacy up to seventh by the end of day one. A dominant final-day display pushed the Irishmen up to second overall, their best result of the year secured thanks to five fastest times on six Sunday stages.
The secret to the change in fortune – more set-up changes? Diving further into the detail? More pre-event preparation?
Not exactly.
“We have been working hard to get this opportunity for a long time,” explained Armstrong, “It was amazing to finally get it.
“I underestimated the challenge of getting used to that category of car and getting on the pace of the frontrunners.
“That was frustrating early on and when you have the pressure of wanting to get good results for everyone supporting you, it can be difficult to enjoy the experience.
“You still have to enjoy taking in the atmosphere, driving in these incredible locations, and travelling the world but ultimately you’re there to try to go as fast as you can.
“Towards the end of the year, I took a step back. We didn’t have pre-event testing from round six [Barum Czech Rally Zlin] on.
“I focused on my driving and tried to not get overworked by anything. I started to enjoy the events more and of course the results got better too.
“I want to build on that now and I know that we can do it. It is just about staying calm and keeping the focus on making sure all the ducks are in a row.
“We will see how everything goes now over the winter.”
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Photos courtesy of M-Sport
