Armstrong Impresses In Rali Ceredigion

Jon Armstrong delivered an impressive drive to hold a narrow 7.3-second lead heading into the final day of JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion, round seven of the 2025 FIA European Rally Championship.

Armstrong was locked in an intense battle with M-Sport Ford World Rally Team stablemate Romet Jürgenson throughout Saturday’s seven tricky asphalt stages as the Pirelli-equipped Ford Fiesta Rally2 pair pulled away from the chasing pack.

Championship leader Miko Marczyk boosted his title aspirations to hold third, 20.9 seconds behind Armstrong as his nearest points rival, Andrea Mabellini, managed to fight back to sixth after incurring a two-minute penalty before the start of the rally when members of his team breached regulations.

“It was a good day, only one mistake,” said Armstrong. “Obviously it’s quite close between me and Romet which makes it a little bit easier from that side but also more difficult because you just have to keep driving with a good rhythm and not having to manage a big lead. It’s still a big day tomorrow and the weather looks like it’s going to be quite crucial.”

Armstrong kicked off the day by winning SS2 as the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy driver pipped Jürgenson by 0.6sec to move 0.3sec in front of overnight leader Marczyk in the overall classification.

Despite a high-speed moment, Jürgenson chalked up his maiden ERC stage win by topping the times on SS3, Y Diafol, which proved to be the most challenging stage of the loop. Jürgenson was 1.7 seconds faster than Armstrong, who was fortunate not to drop too much time following a half spin into a gate post after getting out of shape through an increasingly muddy right-hand turn.

The battle continued into the afternoon as Armstrong began to edge away from Jürgenson after beating the Estonian driver by 3.3 seconds in SS6. Jürgenson responded by cutting the lead by 1.2 seconds in SS7, before matching his rival’s time on the day-closing Aberystwyth town centre super special.

“It’s been a really positive day,” Jürgenson said. “It’s been a bit surprising for me to be out front with Jon but it’s positive for the future because I still don’t have much experience on these kinds of surfaces but it’s really good.”

Marczyk rounded out the morning loop by winning SS4 to move into third spot. The Polish driver maintained the position through the afternoon and began to edge away from Probite British Rally Championship leader William Creighton, who ended the day in fourth.

“It was a long one but we need to do our job like today tomorrow,” said Marczyk, who heads Mabellini in the ERC title by four points based on the current positions and with dropped scores taken into account. “I’m focusing to take as much as possible from tomorrow, especially the Power Stage. But to get to the Power Stage I will do my best.”

Two-time Rali Ceredigion winner Osian Pryce (Hyundai i20 N Rally2) completed the day in fifth after a challenging leg that included a couple of spins, a technical issue and a lack of confidence to find the limit.

Mabellini heads into Sunday in sixth, 1 minute and 8.1 seconds behind Pryce after delivering a stoic fightback, headlined by stage wins in SS5 and SS7. The Italian driver managed to overhaul Callum Black, who slipped to seventh overall.