11-05-2025
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.
