2024 European Rally Championship (ERC)

Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy to field a two-car team in this year’s FIA Junior European Rally Championship

Posted: April 12, 2024 3:19 AM

ARMSTRONG/TREACY AND M-SPORT TEAM UP FOR EUROPEAN RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP CAMPAIGN

Posted: March 27, 2024 12:21 PM

After a strong 2023 season, Jon Armstrong embarks on his career’s next chapter, stepping up into an M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally2 for the 2024 European Rally Championship. The new partnership recognises Armstrong’s achievements across WRC and ERC feeder categories, whilst representing M-Sport’s long-standing tradition to present new opportunities to up-and-coming talent.

Not unfamiliar to an M-Sport-built Fiesta, Armstrong has been driving Fiesta Rally4 and Rally3 machinery since 2021. Just missing out on a title win in his debut Junior WRC season, he claimed two wins across four events in the Rally4. Armstrong’s determination to climb up through the categories was clear, and he would also claim a Junior ERC3 win on Rally Poland in the same year, his first outing in the Fiesta Rally3.

Armstrong saw in another year of rapid development in the Rally3 across both ERC and WRC feeder categories in 2022, claiming a handful of strong class results throughout the season in the Junior WRC3 category. These successes would then secure a full 2023 ERC programme in the Rally3, and Armstrong made a good first impression with a class win in ERC3 on his season debut on Rally Serras de Fafe. After another four category wins across both asphalt and gravel surfaces, he would go on to claim the ERC3 Championship, marking a career first championship win.

The 2023 season also saw Armstrong make an impressive debut in the Fiesta Rally2 on the Royal Rally of Scandinavia. Fighting in a highly competitive ERC field, on a brand-new and very tough event, alongside the challenge that the step-up to Rally2 machinery brings, Armstrong delivered a fantastic drive and finished the event 11th overall.

These accomplishments not only underscore Armstrong’s rising star status but also bring him to his first full Rally2 season with a strong relationship with M-Sport UK and M-Sport Poland. M-Sport feels Armstrong’s career so far exemplifies the effectiveness of the Rally Progression Pyramid and that the young driver is a perfect representative for M-Sport machinery in the European Rally Championship.

Malcolm Wilson, M-Sport UK Chairman, said:
"Jon’s achievements in 2023 exemplify the talent and potential we strive to support at M-Sport. Our philosophy has always centred on identifying and nurturing young drivers, providing them with the platform to excel at the highest levels of rallying. Jon’s progression so far and this new chapter with us for the 2024 ERC is a testament to our tradition of fostering talent and ambition in the sport."

Richard Millener, M-Sport WRC Team Principal, said:
“I have known Jon for a long time now and I am really happy to see him in one of our cars competing at the top level of the sport. I mentioned Jon’s name to Malcolm a number of years ago as one to watch, and to see him being given this chance makes me really happy. Jon really showed last year what he is capable of, and although the top category of the ERC will be a completely different scale challenge – I am sure him and Eoin will be able to deliver some strong results by using a sensible approach to each event.”

Maciej Woda, M-Sport Poland, said:
“We have had a long-term relationship with Jon, starting back in 2016 when he first started with us in the Drive DMack Fiesta Trophy. He has had a lot of ups and downs over this time, but the one thing which you could always see from Jon was pure speed and desire to fight on the stages.

“This is why went to the European Championship with Jon last year, to show the potential of Fiesta Rally3, but what he achieved exceeded our expectations. For sure, it’s a big step for him now, but we all believe in him and will try to support him with his new adventure.”

Jon Armstrong said:
“It is a dream come true to have the opportunity to complete a full year behind the wheel of a Rally2 car. We’ve been working on this for numerous years and I’m very grateful to M-Sport for the opportunity along with support from the MI Rally Academy, Seacon UK, C&M Motorsport Sales, and all of my close partners.

“It is brilliant to be working closely with Eoin [Treacy] and the MI Academy this year and I am really proud to be representing the rallying community at home. I am excited to collaborate with the other MI Academy members and to work towards our goals together.”

Extensively revised schedule includes three brand-new rallies for 2024.

Posted: March 27, 2024 12:15 PM

Drivers and teams aiming to build their experience and achieve success in the FIA European Rally Championship will be put through their paces on eight events across the continent in 2024.

Following FIA World Motor Sport Council approval, WRC Promoter GmbH – the promotional force behind the ERC – has revealed an exciting and significantly revamped calendar for the upcoming season, with three events on gravel and five on asphalt spread geographically across the continent.

Revving into action in Hungary in April, the ERC schedule includes stops in Spain (Canary Islands), Sweden, Estonia, Italy, Czech Republic and Great Britain prior to Poland hosting the season decider in October.

“We’ve worked hard to deliver a calendar that blends new events with rallies that have, for many years, played a key role in the ongoing success of the ERC,” said championship manager Iain Campbell. “We are very pleased with the balance that’s been achieved as it’s important to freshen up the calendar whenever it’s practical and beneficial to do so, without losing out on the opportunity to include more long-standing events.”

The 2024 calendar represents one of the biggest overhauls of events since 2013 while continuing to maintain several rallies integral to its long-term success.

Following on from its 70th-anniversary season in 2023, the ERC will visit flagship events such as Rally Islas Canarias, Rally di Roma Capitale and Barum Czech Rally Zlín. But there’s a new-look Rally Hungary, and two events untried in the ERC, Rali Ceredigion in the United Kingdom and Rally Silesia in Poland.

The second running of Royal Rally of Scandinavia gets a date one weekend before Mid-Summer (13 - 15 June). It’s part of efforts by the event organiser to further increase fan attendance and underline the Swedish rally’s festival focus with a music festival running in parallel to the rally.

Having hosted the WRC to great acclaim between 2020-2023, Rally Estonia maintains the ERC’s strong Baltic connection with its fourth appearance in the championship in early July. An overview of each 2024 ERC round follows.

MISSION OF DISCOVERY AS ROTATIONAL JUNIOR ERC SCHEDULE UNVEILED

With only one of the six 2023 events forming part of the FIA Junior ERC Championship schedule in 2024, the calendar for the young driver category’s 11th season represents an exciting mission of discovery.

Only Royal Rally of Scandinavia is carried over from 2023 as ERC newcomers Rali Ceredigion and Rally Silesia join the list of dates that includes Rally Islas Canarias – back after a one-year break – and Rally Estonia, which last tested the Junior ERC stars in 2016.

While Rally Hungary hosted the dramatic three-way title decider last month, it’s changing location and surface for 2024. That means the new-season opener will be an untried addition to the Junior ERC schedule.

The six-event calendar for FIA Rally4 and Rally5 cars provides an even split of asphalt and gravel events and is the first to follow a new rotation system. For 2024 Junior ERC stalwart events Rally di Roma Capitale and Barum Czech Rally Zlín won’t form part of the Hankook-equipped championship although both are in line to return in 2025.

2024 ERC RALLIES AT A GLANCE:

Rally Hungary, 12 - 14 April (gravel)
Having run on asphalt since its inception in 2019, Rally Hungary will be gravel only in 2024 with the event relocating to the city of Veszprém, approximately one hour southwest of the capital Budapest for its fifth edition. Challenging stages around Lake Balaton await.

Rally Islas Canarias, 2 - 4 May (asphalt)
The island of Gran Canaria’s asphalt roads climb and descend and twist and turn with rapid frequency and demand plenty of driving and pacenote precision. Changeable mountain weather adds to the task in hand and puts an onus on tyre strategy and management.

Royal Rally of Scandinavia, 13 - 15 June (Sweden, gravel)
Using fast-paced gravel stages in Sweden’s Värmland, the Karlstad event was new for 2023 and bought the ERC back to the country for the first time since 2003 – and rallying back to stages previously run in the thick of winter. The Colin’s Crest jump was a 2023 highlight.

Rally Estonia, 5 - 7 July (gravel)
Voted event of the year after it hosted its first ERC counter in 2014, Rally Estonia is big on jumps, speed and innovation. Made up of rapid gravel stages around the cities of Tartu and Otepää, the event was a WRC round from 2020-2023.

Rally di Roma Capitale, 26 - 28 July (Italy, asphalt)
After two rounds on gravel, the ERC switches back to asphalt for an event that was decided by 0.3sec when it ran its first ERC round in 2017. Although the rally is based in Fiuggi to the southeast of Rome, the Eternal City hosts the opening super special stage.

Barum Czech Rally Zlín, 16 - 18 August (asphalt)
Based in the South Moravian university city of Zlín, this is a Tarmac test like no other due to the bumpy and sometimes broken nature of the roads. Several stages feature flat-out blasts through forests. Big fan attendance is guaranteed, intermittent showers are always possible.

Rali Ceredigion, 30 August - 1 September (United Kingdom, asphalt)
Made up of rapid but narrow country lanes close to the famous forests where the principality once staged Britain’s WRC round, Rali Ceredigion first took place in 2019 and celebrated its third running at the start of September when it also hosted the British championship.

Rally Silesia, 11 - 13 October (Poland, asphalt)
Polish asphalt ERC events are far from unusual. Rally Poland used sealed-surface stages before it switched to gravel in 2005, while Rally Rzeszów was an ERC round in 2016 and 2017. Based in Katowice, junctions aplenty appear on the bumpy and twisty mountain Tarmac roads.

Championship Rounds

Posted: March 27, 2024 12:14 PM

1. Rally Hungary - 12-14 Apr 24
2. Rally Islas Canarias - 2-4 May 24
3. Royal Rally of Scandinavia - 13-15 Jun 24
4. Estonia (ERC) - 5-7 Jul 24
5. Rally di Roma Capitale (Italy) - 26-28 Jul 24
6. Czech Rally Zlin (J) - 16-18 Aug 24
7. Rali Bae Ceredigion/Cardigan Bay Rally - 30 Aug-1 Sep 24
8. Rally Silesia (Poland) - 11-13 Oct 24

European Rally Championship (ERC) - fiaerc.com