ERC podium in Poland for Armstrong and Byrne

Jon Armstrong and Shane Byrne secured their best result of the 2025 European Rally Championship by finishing on the podium of Rally Poland.

The Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy crew expertly powered their Ford Fiesta Rally2 to third overall, 22.1 seconds clear of Sweden’s Isak Reiersen.

Armstrong entered the 190-kilometre event in a positive frame of mind, returning to a rally in which he had claimed three category victories on his previous three visits. The M-Sport driver quickly dialled his Fiesta Rally2 into the flat-out Rally Poland stages, setting a brace of top-three times on stages four and five to move into the top five.

Another third-fastest time on Saturday’s penultimate test put the Irish pairing into fourth overnight as Armstrong excelled in the rutted gravel stages.

On Sunday, Armstrong and Byrne continued where they left off, posting the fastest time on the 20-kilometre Pozezdrze test. Their stunning stage win was rewarded with a move up into third, 6.1 seconds behind local favourite Miko Marczyk.

Further top-three times followed on Sunday’s remaining stages as Armstrong solidified his first ERC podium of the year. A runner-up finish on Rally Poland’s Gmina Mrągowo Power Stage was another indication of the Fermanagh driver’s strength on Poland’s fast stages.

The extra tally of points boosts the academy duo’s ERC hopes, with Armstrong climbing up to sixth in the drivers’ standings, less than 20 points behind second-placed Mads Ostberg.

Winner of Rally Poland, Martins Sesks, was the only driver to better Armstrong’s Power Stage effort. Sesks is an M-Sport Ford World Rally Team team-mate to MI Rally Academy’s Josh McErlean.

“We got into a better rhythm after the first few stages,” the 30-year-old explained. “We tried to build on that speed on Sunday to challenge Miko for third. It was a close battle and we knew it would be difficult to overhaul his advantage.

“Unfortunately, we brushed a chicane on stage 12, just enough to spin the bale slightly, and were given a ten-second penalty. That denied us a shot at second, which was a little frustrating, but we are still overjoyed with the result.

“To get an ERC podium on gravel is a fantastic achievement for us, and I am really happy with how we all performed - the team, Shane on the pacenotes, and all the partners who got us here.”

The MI Rally Academy’s Junior ERC contenders had a demanding weekend of action aboard their Peugeot 208 Rally4s.

Cavan’s Craig Rahill and Conor Smith set the fourth-fastest Junior ERC time on Rally Poland’s opening super special, and the duo shone throughout Saturday’s seven stages to maintain their fourth-place position in the 16-car-strong class.

A storming run over Sunday’s opening Mikolajki stage moved Rahill within 1.8 seconds of third-placed Ioan Lloyd, but, unfortunately, the 2024 Billy Coleman Award winner’s bid for a maiden Junior ERC podium was denied by a broken driveshaft on stage ten.

Keelan Grogan and Ayrton Sherlock were never far from Rahill’s rapid pace and entered Sunday’s deciding six stages in seventh, 20 seconds off the top five.

Grogan rallied even more momentum on Sunday morning, setting a top-three stage time on Mikolajki to move into fifth in Junior ERC.

5.8 seconds off fourth, Grogan had eyes for a stand-out Junior ERC result, only for a puncture to cost him over four minutes. In the end, Grogan had to settle for eighth in Junior ERC.

“We are happy and relieved to get to the finish of what turned out to be a really demanding Rally Poland,” Grogan described. “We had anticipated the speed of the stages before the event, but actually driving through them took things to another level. The speed and commitment required was incredible.

“We were heading for a strong result until we picked up a puncture on the second last stage, which dropped us down the standings.

“It was a shame to end the rally that way, but getting to the finish was an achievement in itself.”

MI Rally Academy co-driver Killian McArdle recorded his best ERC3 finish to date, sealing sixth in the Rally3 class alongside Casey Jay Coleman.

The Ford Fiesta Rally3 crew upped their pace through the weekend, climbing from 11th to sixth in ERC3 and finishing 24th overall.