8 September 2025 / By DAVID FERGUSON
THE world of rallying continues to throw up incredible sporting moments and the JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion’s highlights were capped by Irish duo Jon Armstrong and Shane Byrne roaring to a career high victory in another weekend of drama.
The penultimate BRC event of the season had added excitement in West Wales with the FIA European Rally Championship coming into town. And for 30-year-old Armstrong from Fermanagh and his Donegal co-driver alongside, it produced a first ERC victory alongside the BRC win, and first victory in five years, with their Ford Fiesta Rally2. Estonians Romet Jürgenson and Siim Oja finished second to seal an M-Sport 1-2 on Pirelli tyres, after 12 stages and 185km of closed-road rallying.
Emotional finish
“This has been something we have been working towards,” said Armstrong. “Shane and I had a nice little cry on the way from the stop line to the finish – thankfully, it was quite far! Honestly, I was so emotional going into the final stage, but I just kept it parked in the middle of the road and kept it sensible. It was nice to show what we can do, but I just wanted to get to the finish.
“There has been a lot of hard work and a lot of years rallying to get to this moment, and this was a great result for Shane and I but also for M-Sport. A 1-2 in the ERC and BRC – it can’t get any better than that. It’s going to take a long time to sink in, but we can still go for the European title in Croatia – anything’s possible.”
Miko Marczyk and Szymon Gospodarczyk took third in the ERC to retain a good lead ahead of the final event in Croatia.
In the British Championship, William Creighton and Liam Regan kept up their campaign for the BRC title with third place in the Ceredigion, which keeps them ten points ahead of Welsh crew Meirion Evans and Dale Furniss, who recovered from an off early on Saturday to finish fifth in the BRC points. Along with Jürgenson, they too have a faint hope of keeping the BRC title dream alive next month.
‘Most demanding rally in UK’ – Pearson
Garry Pearson and Hannan McKillop remain in fifth spot in the British event, after the M-Sport team did wonders to get their Fiesta R2 back on the road for the BRC event on Sunday after they hit a gate-post and were forced to retire from the ERC event the day before.
“I said before the event that Rali Ceredigion is probably the most demanding rally in the UK, and I stand by that after the weekend,” said the Duns driver. “They’re great roads to drive but any error is severely punished.
“It was a big disappointment to have to miss so many stages on Saturday, but I’m proud of the progress we made compared to last year and the efforts of the team, and Hannah and I in the car, to keep us going.”
It might have made for an eventful 34th birthday for the driver, but he was delighted to see his M-Sport mates at the top of the pile come Sunday, and believes that shows the capabilities of the cars, which he hopes will become clear in the final BRC event of the year.
“We hoped for more from Ceredigion ourselves, however, in motorsport it’s not about how you’re knocked down but instead how you get back up. We are still in the top five in the championship heading into the finale next month, and the Cambrian is an event I’ve won before in the BRC so we’ll be giving it a good push.”
The Borderer also confirmed that he plans to compete in International McRae Rally Challenge (September 20-21), which he won on its last staging, in 2022.
Scots women claim first Junior podium
The Junior BRC was decided by just 4.1 seconds after over 180km of competitive driving, Kyle McBride and Darragh Mullen emerging victorious in their Peugeot 208 Rally4 over Joseph Kelly and Killian McArdle. But Scottish female duo Meghan O’Kane and Nikki Addison were wearing big smiles after their maiden International event. Despite several car issues in the lead-up, the Fiesta R2 team finished 15th and top Scots overall in the International field, and third British junior to claim their first Junior BRC podium.
The Probite British Rally Championship now heads north to the Lewis & Hunter Cambrian Rally, where the title fight will go down to the wire on the gravel stages of North Wales.