The team principal of M-Sport Ford, Richard Millener, says that Jon Armstrong's performance was an outstanding achievement at Croatia Rally despite the misfortune that hit him on Friday morning.
Armstrong managed to be third overall at the end of Stage 1, but he lost four places in Stage 2 due to a front left puncture. However, he bounced back and was very close in taking his first ever stage win in WRC as he was 0,1 slower than Thierry Neuville in SS3. Drama hit the M-Sport Ford driver in Stage 4 as he was forced to retire due to a double puncture on the right side. He and Shane Byrne restared on Saturday under the SuperRally regulations and showed an amazing performance with their Puma. In fact, the Iresh crew managed to be the second-fastest and the third-fastest crew three and nine times respectively during last weekend. Despite the fact that they were outside the top 20, they continued being impressive as they were finished third on the SuperSunday standings and in Powerstage which means that they scored valuable points for the manufacturers' championship. M-Sport Ford remains fourth on the standings, but is just four points behind the second team of Toyota at the end of the fourth WRC round.
"It’s been a really exciting rally for us, and it’s fantastic to see the pace John and Shayne have shown throughout the entire weekend", Millener said.
"To watch them fighting at the top of the stage time sheets against far more experienced Rally1 crews and to come away with third overall in the Power Stage and Super Sunday points, is an outstanding achievement".
Photo Credits: M-Sport
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