FOR the second European Rally Championship event in a row, Jon Armstrong’s push for at least a podium finish were derailed by a puncture.
In Hungray, at the start of last month, the Kesh native picked up two on stage six to end his hopes of building upon his third placed position at that stage and in an almost identical situation in Sweden less than a fortnight ago, his tyres again let him down.
As was the case in Hungary, his deflation came on the stage immediately after he had posted a quickest time with a puncture being picked up on stage five on this occasion and while he acknowledges that he may have played a small part in that, he was pleased with how he responded yet again, taking over a minute out of former Citroen WRC driver, Stephane Lefebvre to finish 10th overall in the process.
“This time it was maybe me being a bit greedy on the inside of a corner,” he acknowledged. “But it was still the same outcome, which wasn’t ideal.
“I’m really happy with the pace. We seemed to have a really good feeling, even from free practice and going into qualifying we just had good pace and we had a good road position on the Friday.
“But I was probably a bit too careful on the wet stages on Friday morning and I dropped a little bit of time. But then we were fastest on stage four, only to hit something on stage five and got the puncture and after that it was about chipping in, try to get some good stage times and salvage something.
“We managed to get back up to 10th by the final day and we took over a minute out of Lefebvre on that day – it was good to catch him and beat him. And it was nice that when something happens in the middle of a rally that you can refocus, set a new target and that’s what we did.”
Armstrong won’t have long to wait in a bid to bounce back from disappointment in Scandinavia with Rally Poland, an event he is looking forward to, taking place this coming weekend.
“It’s good that the next round is so close because it helps keep your eye in and it helps keep you match fit without doing anything in between times,” he added. “And Poland, I really enjoy it.
“The roads are very sandy and they get damaged and rutted on the second pass but I’ve always had a good run there so, obviously, it seems to be somewhere I’m suited to and I’m looking forward to it.
“We’ll keep our fingers crossed [for no more punctures] and we’ll keep chipping on.”