Latest news with #RallyHungary
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Three punctures ends Armstrong's hopes of podium finish
Jon Armstrong had to settle for fourteenth overall on Rally Hungary, after three punctures ended his hopes of a podium finish. The Fermanagh driver was holding third overall and had just set his first ever fastest stage time on gravel in the European Rally Championship when he hit problems and plummeted down the leaderboard. Despite the disappointing overall placing, Jon came away from the event hopeful for the rest of the season. 'It was nice to be able to be on the pace right from the pre practice and the qualifying,' he said. 'I hadn't done a gravel rally since last July, so it was a bit of an unknown, but it was good to know we have taken a step forward there. "We knew the tarmac pace is quite good but we didn't know how the gravel would be. "It was just a bit frustrating whenever we know we could have been on the podium, because every stage where we didn't have a puncture, we had a top three time. "The fact the pace is consistently good is a positive thing to have. If we can just keep chipping away, hopefully a solid result will be around the corner.' Jon's early pace had elevated him to third place after four stages, and he followed that up with a joint fastest time on stage five, but disaster struck on the sixth test as he suffered two separate punctures. 'We had a strong first loop lying third,' he said. 'The first stage out on the second loop on the Saturday, we were joint fastest and we were closing in on second but then on stage six we got a puncture and stopped and changed it, and then got another puncture on the same wheel and we had to stop and change again. "The tyre starts to flail very quickly and you risk damaging an electrical component or the damper or the brake line, and it was still quite far to the end of the stage, so we had to stop.' That dropped Jon down to a lowly 25th, and his climb back up the table was stalled again on the final day with another puncture. 'It is based in a military area and the stages have a lot of bedrock sticking out and are quite rough,' he explained. 'We had another puncture on the first run through the power stage, stage ten. Again, it was a bit of bedrock and we had to stop and change. "It was all really done at that stage anyway, but it was still annoying to have them. It obviously affected our position.' Next up for Jon is the Rally of Scandinavia at the end of this month, quickly followed by Rally Poland, and Jon is hopeful he can turn his season around. 'If I could get a podium in Scandinavia I would be very happy, but there will be more Scandinavians turning up for that,' he said. 'It will be my third year doing it, so I have to use that experience and really go for it. Poland is a gravel rally, fast and more sandy, and is one of my favourite gravel rallies, so I am really looking forward to that. It is a great challenge.'
Irish Examiner
11-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Armstrong and Byrne recover to secure tenth place at European Rally Championship
Fighting back from a double puncture on Saturday's leg that relegated the Irish crew of Jon Armstrong and Shane Byrne to 25th position, the pair made a spirited recovery to claim 10th place in Rally Hungary, the second round of the European Rally Championship. Armstrong was denied victory and the maximum five points by fellow Irish driver Philip Allen (Skoda Fabia Rally2) who won the Power Stage by 1.9s. The event was won by Finland's Roope Korhonen (Toyotas GR Yaris Rally2) on what was his maiden ERC outing and also his first international rally win as he finished 30.1s ahead of the Citroen C3 Rally2 of Norway's Mads Ostberg. Italian ace Andrea Mabellini (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) forged ahead on Saturday morning's first stage with Armstrong just 3.9s behind in second and although he slipped to third after the morning loop, Armstrong was only 10.6s off top spot. Mabellini and Armstrong had identical times on SS5 but the Kesh driver's Ford Fiesta Rally2 collected two punctures on the day's penultimate stage. 'The first puncture was in a rough section but then the second one we were stuck in dust and going slowly and I don't even know what happened there.' He added, 'To get two in the one stage is pretty unlucky, it's a big shame as everything was going quite well.' Armstrong finished the stage down in 25th position - six minutes and 11.2s off the lead. He was second quickest on the day's final stage and was 24th overnight. Mabellini ended Saturday's leg (six stages) with a 10.6s advantage over Korhonen with last year's event winner Simone Tempestini (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) 30.8s off top spot. Beginning his recovery with third fastest times on Sunday's opening pair of stages, Armstrong then lost time with a puncture on SS10. He showed fine pace on the final three stages with a fourth, first and second fastest stage time. "A bit frustrated, we knew we had the pace to be on the podium, but just too many issues along the way. Positive to show the pace on gravel and shows that the Fiesta can do it. Shane (his co-driver) and the whole team have done a great job." Tempestini retired with a broken steering while Mabellini suffered tyre damage before bowing out with a broken damper. Meanwhile, Tyrone's Jason Mitchell (Skoda Fabia Rally2) and his Donegal co-driver Paddy McCrudden survived a huge overshoot on the final stage to win the Mitchelstown based Sean Conlon Memorial Forest Rally, round three of the Sligo Pallets Irish Forest Rally Championship. They finished a mere 3.2s ahead of the Ford Fiesta Rally2 of Waterford's Andrew Purcell and his Blackpool co-driver Liam Brennan. Armagh's Darren Gass (VW Polo GTi R5) and his Scottish co-driver Neil Shanks were 17s. further behind in third. Pre-event series leader and top seed Cashel's Pat O'Connell (Ford Fiesta R5) ended the opening stage down in tenth place after a front left wheel puncture. Purcell (Ford Fiesta Rally2) was the early pacesetter leading Mitchell by 1.3s with Niall McGonigle (Ford Fiesta rally2) 4.3s further behind. Mitchell, with a steady pace was best on SS2 (Kilcoran) to snatch the lead from Purcell, who was 7.4s behind. O'Connell won the third and final stage of the loop (Kilworth) and slotted into third. The hanging dust was a problem for Purcell, who was lucky to escape when he was on the wrong line (due to the dust) through a junction. Armagh's Darren Gass in an ex-Hayden Paddon VW Polo GTi R5 was on his first Irish gravel event in some fifteen years. Fifth placed Niall McGonigle burst two dampers on the second stage and has his Ford Fiesta Rally2 on two wheels at a hairpin but retrieved the situation. Reigning national champion Derek Mackarel lost time when the power steering of his Fiesta R5 cut out on the second, he was 34.8s off the lead. Entering the final stage there was only 9.9s between Mitchell and Purcell. Mitchell had his overshoot drama as the hanging dust posed a problem with only a minute interval between the top crews. O'Connell posted the stage win but McGonigle crashed and the stage interruption rule was applied to the remaining cars. Rally Hungary (Round 2, European Rally Championship): 1. R Korhonen / A Viinikka FIN Toyota GR Yaris) 1h. 50m. 30.7s; 2. M Østberg / T Eriksen (Citroën C3 Rally2)+30.1s; 3. M. Marczyk/S. Gospodarczyk (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2)+31.4s. 4. I. Reiersen/S. Gustavsson (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2)+2m. 10.1s; 10. J. Armstrong/S. Byrne (Ford Fiesta Rally2)+8m. 42.4s. Sean Conlon Memorial Forest Rally (Round 3, Sligo Pallets Irish Forest Rally Championship) Mitchelstown: 1. J. Mitchell/P. McCrudden (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) 38m. 25.9s; 2. A. Purcell/L. Brennan (Ford Fiesta Rally2)+3.2s; 3. D. Gass/N. Shanks (VW Polo GTi R5)+20.2s; 4. P. O'Connell/M. Wiley (Ford Fiesta R5)+31.7s; 5. D. Mackarel/E. Creedon (Ford Fiesta R5)+46.7s; 6. J. Dunphy/G. Shinnors (Ford Fiesta R5)+58.4s; 7. S. Dickson/B. Teggart (Ford Fiesta Rally2)+1m. 02.3s; 8. G. Mimnagh/J Barry McCarney (Ford Fiesta R5)+1m.03.4s; 9. D. Guest/L. Moynihan (Ford Fiesta Rally2)+1m. 35.0s; 10. M. O'Brien/J. Cotter (Ford Fiesta Rally2)+2m.14.9s.
Irish Examiner
09-05-2025
- Automotive
- Irish Examiner
Motors: Armstrong aware of tough task in Rally Hungary 'mini Safari'
M-Sport Ford driver Jon Armstrong is very aware of his task in this weekend's Rally Hungary, the second round of the European Rally Championship where he will be co-driven by Donegal's Shane Byrne as the pair bid to open their championship account. Having switched from tarmac to gravel last year and based in the city of Veszprém, it's the first of the three ERC gravel events for Kesh native Armstrong and his fellow ERC contenders. 'Rally Hungary is massively tough. It's like a mini Safari. Ok, you don't have the fesh-fesh but there's a lot of undulation in terms of jumps into crests and dips. You have a lot of bedrock so it's tough on the tyres. It's based out of the military area of Hungary and the roads are quite beaten up. The suspension is tested to the maximum.' Last year he finished eighth but will be looking to improve on that result. 'I will try to build on what we learned last year and continue to work with Shane (Byrne) building on some good pace on Rally Sierra Morena (opening round), the main goal is to get some solid points on the board. We are putting in the effort in the background, hopefully, it will start to pay off.' With 28 others in the Rally2 category, Armstrong has to be on the pace right from the beginning of the 13-stage event. Last year's winner Romania's Simone Tempestini (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) also knows how difficult the event is. 'There are sections that are open and wide where you can see what is ahead. But, at the same time, you really have to take care about bumps and stones and the really high speed. Then you go in other stages that are completely different with a soft surface and many surprises.' He is joined by his MRF Tyres team mate and 2023 FIA WRC3 title winner and reigning Finnish champion Roope Korhonen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) and Miklós Csomós (Citroen C3 Rally2) , who finished third last year. The experienced Mads Ostberg also in a Citroen - but on Michelin tyres — should be at the cutting edge as should fellow Citroen ace Max McRae, steps up to the ERC Rally2 category. Northern Ireland's Philip Allen (Skoda Fabia Rally2) is also competing. Following tonight's head-to-head super special stage there are six stages tomorrow and six more on Sunday. Craig Rahill, Keelan Grogan and Aoife Raftery are amongst the Junior ERC category entry in their Peugeot 208 Rally4 cars. "We got a taste for what the car is like on the Moonraker Rally, but altogether, we have very little seat time on gravel this year. Our aim is to find a comfortable pace and try to stay out of trouble." said Rahill. Carrick on Suir's Casey Jay Coleman (Ford Fiesta Rally3) is amongst the 13 strong ERC3 entry. *** Meanwhile, Cashel's Pat O'Connell (Ford Fiesta R5) heads the entry for Sunday's Mitchelstown-based Sean Conlon Memorial Tipperary Forest Rally, the third round of the Sligo Pallets Irish Forest Rally Championship. With his closest championship rivals Vivian Hamill and Niall Devine not making the long trip south, O'Connell has the opportunity to stretch his current three points championship advantage on the six stage event. Reigning champion Monaghan's Derek Mackarel (Ford Fiesta R5), who slid off on the last round, has a quick opportunity to get back into the frame. However, Tyrone's Jason Mitchell (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2), Waterford's Andrew Purcell, Niall McGonigle and Gareth Mimnagh, all in Ford Fiesta Rally2 cars will not make it easy. It will be interesting to see how former Irish Tarmac champion Darren Gass (VW Polo GTI R5) will fare on what is a rare gravel outing. The top ten also includes the Ford Fiesta Rally2's of Clonakilty's David Guest and Northern Ireland duo Stephen Dickson and Martin Cairns. Tyrone's Hugh McQuaid and Donegal's Damien Tourish, both in Ford Escort RS1800's head the Modified category.
