Rising McErlean and Armstrong join forces with M-Sport for the 2026 WRC season

Josh McErlean and Eoin Treacy bring their Rally1 experience, while Armstrong and Shane Byrne add JWRC and ERC expertise for a strong 2026 campaign.

McErlean and Treacy will join their new Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy teammates, Armstrong and Shane Byrne, on the start ramp at Rallye Monte-Carlo next month. The Irish quartet will combine McErlean and Treacy’s valuable experience from their debut Rally1 season in 2025 with Armstrong’s extensive background in the JWRC and ERC, setting the foundation for a strong 2026 campaign.

McErlean and Treacy enjoyed an impressive first season with M-Sport, making their Rallye Monte-Carlo debut and securing a seventh-place overall finish on the icy opening round. They carried this momentum through the season with top-ten finishes at Rally de Portugal, Rally Finland, and the Central European Rally, showing consistent growth in the Puma Rally1 car. The pair aim to continue building on this experience in 2026 while also sharing their knowledge with their new teammates.

Armstrong’s career demonstrates the effectiveness of the rally progression ladder. Starting in the British Rally Championship in 2013 with a Ford Fiesta R2, he made his ERC and WRC debuts in 2015, gaining crucial experience on key WRC events such as Rally de Portugal and Rally Finland. Armstrong achieved runner-up positions twice in the Junior World Rally Championship (2021 and 2022), claiming wins and podiums across Croatia, Sweden, Estonia, and Poland.

A move to the FIA European Rally Championship in 2023 saw Armstrong claim five wins in the Fiesta Rally3, securing the ERC3 title, and make his Rally2 debut at the Royal Rally of Scandinavia. In 2024, he advanced to the top ERC category in a Ford Fiesta Rally2 alongside Eoin Treacy, and in 2025, with Shane Byrne, he achieved podiums at Rally Poland and Czech Rally Zlín before winning their first ERC event at Wales Rally Ceredigion, leading the rally from stage two to the finish and taking four stage victories. The duo finished runner-up in the ERC championship, just six points behind the winner, after a final commanding win in Croatia.

With momentum from their strong 2025 performances, Armstrong and Byrne now join McErlean and Treacy to make the step up to Ford Puma Rally1 machinery, debuting at Rallye Monte-Carlo, with the quartet aiming to deliver strong performances and further progress in 2026.

“I’m absolutely thrilled to be confirmed with M-Sport for the 2026 WRC season, and I’m incredibly grateful for the continued support from both the team and the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy. We made real progress throughout 2025, and I’m excited to build on everything we learned and put it into action next year. To have another season at this level means a lot. I’m in a completely different place mentally compared to this time last year, stronger, clearer, and ready to enjoy the challenge ahead. My focus now is on myself, performing to the best of my ability, and making the most of this fantastic opportunity with Eoin alongside me", McErlean said.

Finally, Armstrong said: “I’m obviously very grateful for the opportunity to drive a Rally1 car. 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".

Photo Credits: M-Sport