Jon Armstrong joins Josh McErlean in M-Sport's WRC lineup for 2026
Photography by M-Sport
Words by Luke Barry
Jon Armstrong will graduate to the World Rally Championship and the Rally1 category, competing for M-Sport alongside fellow Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy driver Josh McErlean in 2026.
Armstrong has contested the European Rally Championship with M-Sport for each of the past two seasons, steering a Ford Fiesta Rally2 to back-to-back victories in Croatia and Wales to end 2025.
The 31-year-old had harbored ambitons to make it to WRC2 for 2026, but instead will drive a Puma Rally1 on all 14 rounds of the championship alongside co-driver Shane Byrne.
“I’m obviously very grateful for the opportunity to drive a Rally1 car,” Armstrong said. “It’s something I’ve worked towards from a very young age, so to actually be able to compete in the top tier of rallying is definitely a dream come true. Of course, there have been years where things didn’t go our way and we weren’t sure if it would ever happen, but we’ve had a very strong season in ERC, showed our potential, and naturally you then want to see what you can do in the World Rally Championship.
“I’m very happy and extremely grateful to M-Sport, who I’ve been driving with for most of my rally career, and also to the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy – without them we definitely wouldn’t be here. We’re really looking forward to the year ahead. There are going to be a lot of good times and definitely some challenges, but I think we’ve shown that we can rise to those challenges, so we just need to stay strong, enjoy it, and keep pushing forward.”
McErlean heads into a second season with M-Sport after debuting in 2025
Returning for a second season with M-Sport is McErlean and co-driver Eoin Treacy, who are looking to build on what they learned in 2025.
The news confirms Grégoire Munster has lost his factory drive, but he has been exploring options in WRC2. DirtFish understands Mãrtiņš Sesks could receive a similar, part-time program to 2025.
M-Sport says “further announcements on the remaining line-up will be made soon”.
Team principal Richard Millener said: “I’m very happy to announce that we will be welcoming Josh and Eoin back to the team for the 2026 season. They had a brilliant debut season and their progression with such limited Rally1 experience was very clear to see, so it’s great to be able to give them the opportunity to continue this upward trajectory. Away from the events, they have both become much-valued members of the team and I’m really looking forward to working with them again.
“It’s also very exciting to see Jon and Shane get the opportunity to make the step-up to Rally1 machinery with us. I’m genuinely eager to see how they progress throughout 2026. Jon’s been working towards this opportunity for a long time now, and his strong ERC performances at the end of last season made it impossible to ignore him.
“I’d like to thank the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy for their support throughout the 2025 season, and I look forward to developing our partnership further as we head into 2026.”
Words:Luke Barry
Tags: Josh McErlean, M-Sport, WRC, WRC 2026
Publish Date December 16, 2025 DirtFish 
https://dirtfish-editorial.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/2025/12/CTk6cbLR-896bf5fe-bf23-95fa-e9d6-59c37bad2ddd-780x520.jpg December 16, 2025
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