Top ten finishes for Armstrong and McErlean on Rally1's final asphalt outing
Jon Armstrong and Shane Byrne concluded the final asphalt World Rally Championship event for the current generation of Rally1 cars with a solid eighth-place finish and top Ford honours at Rally Japan, while Josh McErlean and Eoin Treacy fought back from a puncture to secure tenth overall.
Armstrong made a steady start to his first Rally Japan appearance, with a hard compound tyre choice making it difficult to challenge for top positions on the damp technical stages. A set-up adjustment on Saturday significantly improved his Ford Puma Rally1’s handling, and by the afternoon the Fermanagh native was feeling confident and enjoying the unique Japanese stages.
The Rally1 rookie’s pace continued to improve into Sunday as he relished the narrow final stages. A seventh-fastest time on the penultimate Nukata test sealed a comfortable eighth-place finish, securing an important drama-free points-scoring result.
"It was a really cool event," said Armstrong. "There were so many spectators lining the road sections, and Japan is such a passionate rallying country. Performance-wise, though, we probably didn't quite achieve what we were hoping for. Some of that comes down to a lack of experience compared to the other drivers on those stages, but we were also still trying to dial in the set-up of the car.”
"We definitely improved both the set-up and the driving style over the course of the Canary Islands and Japan rallies. With no more tarmac rallies left this season, the focus now switches back to gravel, and we're looking forward to that challenge.”
A puncture on stage five, caused by a rock, cost McErlean and Treacy two minutes, dropping them to 16th on the leaderboard.
Despite mechanical challenges on Saturday, McErlean worked his way back up the standings, securing a top ten finish on the very last stage.
"This rally has been tricky from the start, obviously, with some issues along the way," said McErlean.
"However, it's been a really special place to come here with all the fans, the welcome we get in Japan is like nowhere else. We managed to get inside the top ten in the end, but it was a tough weekend to find the balance and rhythm with the car on the narrow roads. The run of gravel events to finish the season is exciting though, and I can't wait to get stuck into those and see what we can do.”
Meanwhile, Toyota's Aaron Johnston finished fourth overall alongside Takamoto Katsuta after improving pace through the weekend and ending the rally with a runner-up time on the Power Stage.
Cavan's James Fulton and his Japanese pilot Yuki Yamamoto secured their first WRC2 podium together with a third-placed finish on Yamamoto's home event in their Toyota Yaris Rally2.
Back in Ireland, Academy co-driver Darragh Mullen claimed Class 2 victory on the Circuit of Munster Stages Rally with Oran England after setting several fastest times once they moved into the lead on stage five.
"The Circuit of Munster proved to be a challenging day all round with demanding stages and very tricky conditions throughout," said Mullen. "We had a good battle in the class throughout the event and we were delighted to come away with the class win after such a demanding event.”
Ross Ryan and James Deane finished fourth in their Ford Fiesta Rally4, improving their pace throughout the day on the narrow, bumpy Limerick stages.
“It was nice to get to the finish,” said Ryan. “We learned a lot about how to drive the car on really narrow bumpy roads and are happy with how our pace progressed through the day.”
In Class 4, 2023 Billy Coleman Award winner Jack Brennan claimed a one-minute, 11.7-second victory aboard his Ford Fiesta Rally3.