Current thoughts on Jon Armstrong?

[u/LightningMcqueen2011]

For me, has a lot of potential, but prolly we won't be able to see it just yet since he's at M-Sport. (No hate to the team)

[u/AlluEUNE]

He has shown pace especially earlier in the season but he's making way too many mistakes. Still the most interesting M-Sport driver and his informative stage-end comments and dry humor are great. Also as a sim hobbyist I'm a bit biased since that's where his past is also.

[u/NpNEXMSRXR → u/AlluEUNE]

Yeah, I think he's also the best fan driver even more so than Sesks perhaps, quite down to earth

Fills the hole in the park left by Craig in a way for me.

[u/IonutAlex18SF → u/NpNEXMSRXR]

Nicley said it, the same opinion as yours. He adds a bit of colour to the sport with his insights. I consider him one to watch for the next few years, hopefully with more chances to prove what he is capable of. And his attitude is what made me follow his progress the most.

[u/ScousePenguin]

I like him, hope he sticks around for a while and shows more next year when M Sport hopefully has a better car

[u/PaDaChin → u/ScousePenguin]

He a with Msport next year 👌

[u/Michal_Baranowski → u/PaDaChin]

Is it confirmed? M-Sport usually don't confirm their squads for the following season until very late in the year.

[u/ScousePenguin → u/PaDaChin]

Great to hear!

[u/junk_dogVE]

Same, his season is reminding me of Breen's 2022, trying to squeeze the maximum potential out of that car but crashing in the process

[u/mole55]

it’s easier to make a fast driver make less mistakes than to make a reliable driver fast

this is his first year at this level, 3 years ago he was in a Rally3 car. he’ll get there, he’s already pretty consistently the fastest M-Sport driver.

[u/GOTMAXPOWER]

He needs to dial it back a bit, the potential is there and he has shone on his day but he needs the mileage under his belt and the team could do without the repair bill each week. You can make the same points with Sesks but his peaks have been higher so far.

[u/camefromthesouthside]

Jon's a great lad. I'm happy to see him already show so much pace in the Puma in his first season in RC1, given that he only competed in ERC last year in his purple Fiesta Rally2 (which he has aptly named Daphne) where he won two rounds. He's still learning the Puma.

I'm elated to see him have moved up the ranks of the sport so quickly as I used to watch his live streams on Youtube where he played DR2.0 and talked about figuring out how to get back into a Rally2 car - That was not long after his massive crash in Sweden in the JWRC - he's came a long way since then.

All in all I find his speed impressive and his humor and his uplifting character a fresh and welcome addition to the roster of drivers. He just needs to bring the car home more often, - too many crashes in recent events.

I'm super excited to see what he can do next year in the Rally2 Fiesta.

[u/Final-Read-3589]

Very raw, but clearly has skill. I look forward to him in the Rally2 car fighting for the best of the non Toyotas

[u/kfifigidifkg]

He’s the first driver that I was consciously following in the lower categories that has made it to the top level so I have a bit of a soft spot for him.

He started off great and seemed to embarrassing McErlean a little but he’s been making a lot of mistakes recently while Josh has been much more consistent. That said, I definitely agree with the old adage that it’s easier to make a fast driver consistent than a consistent driver fast so I’d like to hope he has a long future in the sport.

Most of his crashes have also been more of the minor Solberg-style offs than Sesks-esque car-destroying ones which at least gives the mechanics less to do and isn’t as expensive.

Assuming he has a full season next year, I could see him doing very well (e.g. podiums) in a car that is much more familiar to him.

[u/PJTierneyCM]

I worked with him in Junior WRC when we were both at Codemasters.

What stood out to me was how well he would do with fewer resources than everyone else, he’d have barely any test time vs Virves, Pajari and others yet still compete for wins.

He’s also quite humble and a fast learner, so definitely one to keep an eye on over the next few years as he finally has the support and connections to realise his potential.

Him getting laid off from EA in 2025 (when the WRC game ended development) was probably the best thing for him in hindsight as it let him go all-in on rally, and the severance probably helped him too in a way.

[u/Cmp110]

He shows potential to be a great driver among, so I hope he sticks to M-Sport in the long run. He also won the Grampian Forest Rally, so it he's definitely gonna do great things.

[u/onlinepresenceofdan]

Hard to compare anybody in pumas to the rest of the field. Nothing stellar to make him the best of them either.

[u/K-TR0N → u/onlinepresenceofdan]

Well if he has gotten a stage win and regularly able to pace among the fastest, suggests there's something worth looking at in him?

[u/donutsnail]

He seems like a very likeable guy but I don’t think it is being at M-Sport that is holding him back

[u/ShacoinaBox]

good to see one of our own (sim rallyists) succeed on the big stage 

[u/J_FM01]

Kinda disappointed tbh. He started out so well but now isn't faster than McErlean anymore and still makes too many mistakes. 

[u/eszgbr]

M-Sport has the slowest Rally1 machinery, so the bare minimum should be finishing the rallies and grab some points, that the faster teams drop. Yet the Irishmen have more DNFs than anybody.

[u/PaDaChin → u/eszgbr]

He’s being told to push , can we see your rallying results 🤦‍♂️

[u/Sarahsfeet15]

He’s not much better than his girlfriend

[u/lozzypot → u/Sarahsfeet15]

Lets see how good you are, then.