Armstrong steps up to the ERC big league with MRF Tyres Dealer Team

Armstrong has impressed many this year by dominating all four rounds of the ERC3 series so far in one of M-Sport Poland’s Fiesta Rally3 cars. He will step up to the ERC’s top category for next month’s all-new Swedish fixture, which is based in Värmland.

Swedish co-driver Julia Thulin will call the pace notes for the 7 - 8 July fixture, with local outfit GN Motorsport - for which Thulin works as a coordinator - supplying the car.

“We’ve got a very exciting opportunity to do Royal Rally of Scandinavia,” said Armstrong. “MRF Tyres have been seriously impressive this last couple seasons, obviously winning the title last year and winning the past two rallies with [Mārtiņš] Sesks.

“This is very much just to test the water to see how I do in the Rally2 car. I’d like to think there may be an opportunity to build on this in the future, but for now it’s just this one event and then we’ll see what we can put together moving forward.”

The Northern Irishman becomes the latest young talent to be scouted by Indian brand MRF Tyres and joins the likes of Mārtiņš Sesks, Efrén Llarena and Andrea Mabellini, all of whom pilot MRF-shod machinery.

MRF Tyres representative Vivek Ponnusamy reiterated the company’s commitment to supporting rallying’s future stars, saying: “Our ethos at MRF Tyres is to nurture the next generation of motorsport talent and we are truly delighted to be supporting Jon. His past results prove that he is more than deserving of this opportunity and we are excited to have him on board for his top-level ERC debut.”

Based in the central Swedish city of Karlstad, BAUHAUS Royal Rally of Scandinavia is a summer version of Sweden’s FIA World Rally Championship counter when it took place in the country’s Värmland region up until 2020.