PRESS RELEASE

Power steering issue forces Friday fight, strong Saturday response ends with roll on second pass of Felgueiras

Porto, Portugal – 10th May 2026

Jon Armstrong and co-driver Shane Byrne showed flashes of genuine gravel pace on Rally Portugal before a roll on Saturday afternoon ended their challenge.

The M-Sport Ford crew comfortably got to grips with the Ford Puma Rally1 on the opening stages – their first European gravel rally in the FIA World Rally Championship’s top tier.

Their rally took a time-sapping turn on Friday when a power steering issue emerged on Portugal’s rough and demanding stages. Limited time and replacement parts in the remote mid-day service meant the problem could not be fully resolved heading into the afternoon loop.

Armstrong dug deep to complete Friday’s afternoon stages without power steering assistance, using all his physical and mental strength to reach the end of the day.

With eyes on a fightback from 16th overall, Armstrong strapped up his blistered hands and attacked Saturday’s opening stages with renewed determination. He quickly moved into the top 10 before storming to an impressive third-fastest time on Paredes – narrowly missing what looked like a first WRC stage win as Oliver Solberg and Elfyn Evans pipped him late in the running order.

Buoyed by his competitiveness and eager to claw back the time lost on Friday, Armstrong embarked on the second pass of Felgueiras. Unfortunately, conditions had changed since the morning loop and his Puma drifted wide, clipping the edge of a rock face on a left-hand turn and sending the car into a heavy roll.

Thankfully, both Armstrong and Byrne were unhurt, but the damage meant they could go no further.

Quote – Jon Armstrong

“When we had a clean run, the stages were really enjoyable,” said Armstrong. “I especially liked the first pass through the stage where we would eventually roll.

“I really enjoyed the format of the rally itself, particularly on Thursday and Friday. It felt a bit like old-school rallying, similar to how the RAC used to be, where you start in one location, do stages, stay somewhere else overnight and then work your way back towards Porto the next day. I thought that was really cool.

“It gives you that feeling of not really knowing where you are at times, which is part of the adventure of rallying. It was quite refreshing compared to the more repetitive format of doing the same loop of stages either side of service every day.

“When we lost power steering, at first, on the road section, it honestly felt like it was going to be very difficult to continue.

“But we decided to try one stage to see if it was manageable. Once we got through that, I realised it was possible to keep going, even if it was physically demanding. There was definitely a lot of lactic acid building up and it was quite a struggle physically, but you just try to push through it.

“In the end, the time loss wasn’t actually as bad as I expected, and it kept us in a position where we could still score championship points, which was important. I’ve still got a couple of blisters to remind me of it as well.

“Unfortunately on Saturday we just ran slightly wide over a crest and clipped the bank. That pulled the front of the car towards the inside of the road, and then as the road dropped away downhill, we touched the inside again and rolled.

“It was quite a simple mistake in many ways, but the margins are so fine at this level when you are trying to push and find the next level of performance.

“The car rolled on the road and then into the trees, which caused quite a lot of damage to the rear because that section is mainly carbon fibre. Unfortunately, there wasn’t really a realistic way to restart for Sunday because of the amount of work involved and the logistics around repairing the car, especially with the turnaround towards Japan.

“It was disappointing not to continue because Sunday included some really iconic stages, but that’s rallying sometimes.

“There are still a lot of positives to take from it. Looking ahead, I’m really excited to get back onto tarmac later in the year in Japan.

“The biggest thing for me now is becoming more consistent, which isn’t always easy when you are pushing to improve and adapt at this level. That’s probably one of the main lessons from Portugal.

“From a set-up side as well, we still need to find some things to make the car a bit easier to drive consistently, but that will come with more experience and more mileage.”

Notes to Editors

• Event: Rally Portugal (Round 6 of the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship)
• Location: Porto, Portugal
• Driver / Co-driver: Jon Armstrong / Shane Byrne
• Car: Ford Puma Rally1
• Team: M-Sport Ford World Rally Team
• Academy: Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy
• Key moments: Power steering issue from Friday; completed Friday afternoon loop without assistance; third-fastest time on Paredes on Saturday; roll on second pass of Felgueiras ended the rally
• Outcome: Retirement on Saturday; crew unhurt
• Next event mentioned: Japan (later tarmac round)

Links for editors

• Official website (home): jonarmstrongrally.com
• Press hub: jonarmstrongrally.com/press