Barum Czech Rally Zlin
By Chris Caldwell
JON Armstrong thoroughly enjoyed his weekend at Barum Czech Rally Zlin when he finished second overall at the sixth round of the European Rally Championship.
The Kesh native, who had Shane Byrne on the notes in their M-Sport Rally2 Ford Fiesta, enjoyed two stage wins during a consistently quick three days behind the wheel as they finished a little over 10 seconds behind the event’s dominant force, Czech driver, Jan Kopecky, who won outright for the 12th time in his illustrious career.
The 30-year-old was delighted to claim his second podium finish of the season so far on what is one of the toughest rallies on the ERC calendar.
“Over the moon to get second place at Rally Barum,” Armstrong beamed.
“It’s such a tough event, it’s usually one of the toughest on the calendar and this year was no exception.
“It was dry conditions, which made things a little bit easier, but still, you had to be on your toes and really keeping a good rhythm.
“I think at the start of the week, we would definitely have taken a top three for sure, even a top five you have been good, but to take away second to Jan Kopecky, who is now a 12-time winner of the event is something crazy and it’s such a big result for me and Shane [Byrne] and the M-Sport team and the MI Rally Academy as well.
“We’re all putting in a lot of work and it’s good that – deep down I know these results are possible, but to actually achieve them is another thing – it shows that we’re working really hard.”
Jon and Shane will be back in action again on the weekend of September 5 when they make the short journey to Wales where they will be keen to improve upon their current position of third in the overall ERC standings on the series’ penultimate event of the season.
“We’re looking forward now to keeping that rhythm going and go into the next round in a couple of weeks at Rally Ceredigion,” Armstrong said.
“I’m really looking forward to it and we need to keep pushing, keep this good felling.
“There are two rounds of the championship remaining and yes, we’re a long-shot to win it, but anything is possible and we will keep pushing and try to get a couple of good results to round out the year.”