Armstrong and Byrne claim dominant Croatia Rally victory
The Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy’s Jon Armstrong and Shane Byrne produced a masterclass on the Croatia Rally’s European Rally Championship finale to record a 45.7-second victory over Mads Ostberg.
The Ford Fiesta Rally2 crew ended the event with a dominant Power Stage win, ensuring their maximum haul of 35 points from the championship's final round.
Their second ERC event win in a row catapulted Armstrong to the championship's runner-up position, narrowly missing out on the overall title by just six points. The Fermanagh-Donegal duo finish the season with four podium finishes and are the only crew to win more than one event in the eight-round series.
The M-Sport Ford crew made a perfect start to the Croatia Rally, with a hat-trick of stage wins on Saturday morning, giving them an early 22.5-second lead in tricky asphalt conditions.
They could have won all of Saturday's stages had they not picked up a puncture on stage four. Despite taking a more controlled approach in wash-out conditions on Sunday, the start-to-finish rally leaders set two more fastest times to complete their Croatia Rally rout, winning seven of the rally's ten stages.
“I am absolutely over the moon to take victory here in Rally Croatia,” Armstrong commented. “To make it back-to-back wins feels extra special after our debut win in Ceredigion.
“It was a tough and demanding event with lots of tricky sections, but I think we did a really good job on the recce, which allowed us to be fast on Saturday while staying careful in the dangerous parts.
“Sunday was all about managing the pace in torrential rain and mud, but the Pirelli tyres worked brilliantly, and we were able to take the win, along with the Power Stage, which was the maximum we could have achieved.
“Earlier in the season, we were a long way off the title, so to come this close just shows how strong our last three rallies have been. It has been a fantastic season with M-Sport, the MI Rally Academy, and Shane on the notes.”
In Junior ERC, Craig Rahill and Conor Smith showed promising early pace in their Lancia Ypsilon Rally4 to set two second-fastest times on Saturday morning.
The 2024 Billy Coleman Award winner held Junior ERC's runner-up spot after stage two, but unfortunately, they had to retire after an accident on the rally's third stage.
Despite their shortened weekend, Rahill and Smith finished the season third in Junior ERC and claimed the Junior ERC Rookie of the Year award, capping an impressive debut campaign in the championship.
"Overall, it was a disappointing weekend for us," reflected Rahill. "Unfortunately, we got caught out over gravel, lost the back of the car, and slid wide into a tree.
"We were really driving within ourselves and on a good pace before that which makes it disappointing to get caught out on the gravel. We were lying second in Junior ERC, only 13 seconds off the lead, and we were enjoying the very technical, tricky stages. They were some of the most demanding stages we've done in our careers to date.
"Still, we are delighted to come home with third overall in our rookie year in Junior ERC. We collected that at last night's awards ceremony, and we are also absolutely delighted to pick up the Rookie of the Year Award, which is a nice omen to show that all our hard work and dedication this year has been recognised."
Fellow academy challengers Keelan Grogan and Ayrton Sherlock were setting strong times in Junior ERC and found themselves in Junior ERC’s podium positions on Sunday morning.
Unfortunately, a slide wide on a slippery corner on Croatia's penultimate test left their Peugeot 208 Rally4 stuck in muck, agonisingly close to the road, ending their charge for a strong Junior ERC finish.
Back in Ireland, Kyle McBride and Darragh Mullen claimed a start-to-finish Rally4 victory on the Cork 20 Rally in their Peugeot 208 Rally4.
McBride's first event since securing a Billy Coleman Award nomination for his performances in 2025 started in style with a fastest time on the opening Curryglass test, fast enough to sit inside the top ten overall.
Five fastest class times on Saturday gave them a 45.8-second overnight lead before they continued their strong pace on Sunday to claim a one-minute, 25.2-second victory and finish 13th overall.
The result moves McBride and Mullen into a one-point lead in the Stellantis Motorsport Rally Cup heading into its final round, Wales' Cambrian Rally, setting up a winner-takes-all showdown with Joseph Kelly and MI Rally Academy co-driver Killian McArdle.
"It was a really good weekend for us in Cork," said McBride. "We took the Stellantis Cup win and the Rally4 class win.
"We are delighted with how the weekend went for us; we led from the start, managing it throughout the event. We had a good pace, picking up a good few stage wins along the way.
"I can't thank the MI Rally Academy enough for their help, Darragh for doing a great job on the pacenotes, and BDM Motorsport for keeping the car running all weekend. Cork 20 had really nice and tricky stages which made it an enjoyable weekend."
Mullen was equally delighted with their all-important result.
"I had a brilliant weekend at the Cork 20 with Kyle," said Mullen. "We are delighted to take the class win and top points in the Stellantis Cup.
"It was a tricky weekend with challenging conditions, but we kept our heads down and focused on the job at hand. We got the job done, and it is now a winner-takes-all situation going into the Cambrian. It's going to be an interesting event for sure."
MI Rally Academy co-driver Killian McArdle was competing against his academy team-mates in the Rally4 category. Co-driving for Donegal's Joseph Kelly, the duo claimed second in class, enough to keep the race for Stellantis Motorsport Rally Cup honours alive heading into its final round.
