Armstrong and Byrne take on latest ERC round in Sweden

The Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy’s Jon Armstrong and Shane Byrne will be hoping to build their strong gravel pace on this weekend’s Royal Rally of Scandinavia.

Armstrong consistently set top-three stage times on the previous round of the European Rally Championship, Rally Hungary. A series of punctures cost the M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally2 crew a podium finish but showed their tenacity to climb back into ERC’s top ten.

The Royal Rally of Scandinavia, ERC’s third round of the year, starts with a super-special on Thursday evening before a further 16 stages over 184 kilometres on Friday and Saturday. Armstrong has competed on the Karlstad-based event twice before.

Focus will turn closer to home on Sunday as two MI Rally Academy crews face off on the Irish Forest Rally Championship’s Mayo Forest Rally.

Jack Harris and Aaron O’Regan will look to continue their impressive form on Ireland’s national events so far this year. A Class 2 victory on the Circuit of Kerry Rally was followed by a fastest time on the Moonraker Forest Rally, Harris’s first gravel event since switching to Rally4 machinery.

The 20-year-old showed strong pace on the Tipperary Forest Rally before an early retirement, and he will now focus on securing a top result on round four of the MI Junior Rally Series.

Harris will have academy compatriot and Junior ERC contender Keelan Grogan to benchmark himself against on Sunday’s Mayo Forest Rally.

Grogan showed promising pace on Rally Hungary’s demanding gravel stages, setting a runner-up time on its Power Stage. Now the 24-year-old is preparing for Junior ERC’s next round in Poland by competing in Mayo.

“Mayo will be an ideal opportunity for some added seat time ahead of round three of the Junior ERC in Poland,” Grogan described. “The characteristics of Mayo will be a bit different from the Polish roads, but it will still allow us to experiment with the set-up and try out a few things.

“At the very least, it will help keep us sharp during the break between rounds. Unfortunately, Ayrton [Sherlock] can’t make it this weekend, but I’m fortunate to have MI Rally Academy co-driver Killian McArdle stepping in for the day.

“The Rally4 pace in the Forest Championship is always very high, so I’m looking forward to a good race with the rest of the boys.”