European Rally Championship title runner-up Jon Armstrong will join Josh McErlean as part of a new-look M-Sport Ford World Rally Championship driver line-up for 2026. 

The British squad’s decision to retain McErlean after an impressive maiden Rally1 season and add two-time ERC rally winner Armstrong to the line-up comes as part of an expanded collaboration with the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy, which has long supported both drivers.

The pair will now contest a full-season behind the wheel of the Ford Puma Rally1 in what is the last year of the current Rally 1 technical regulations. 

Armstrong's graduation will see the Northern Irishman effectively take over the full-time seat that had been held by Gregoire Munster for the previous two seasons. 

The 31-year-old is a true representative of the effectiveness of the rally pyramid. Starting out as a British Rally Championship contender since as early as 2013 in a Ford Fiesta R2, Armstrong competed on national events before making his ERC and WRC debuts in 2015 in the ERC3 and RC4 classes

Armstrong, who lifted the 2018 WRC eSports world title in 2018, finished twice as runner-up in the Junior WRC in 2021 and 2022, before making a move to the ERC. Last year proved a breakthrough season as Armstrong and co-driver Shane Byrne challenged for the title, winning rallies in Wales and Croatia.    

Jon Armstrong

“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,” said Armstrong.

"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.”

News of a contract extension for McErlean and co-driver Eoin Treacy has arrived after the pair made the leap from Rally2 to Rally1 this year with M-Sport, finishing 11th in the championship.

Making such a jump proved to be a baptism of fire for the 26-year-old, but McErlean showed plenty of potential throughout the campaign, delivering career best results of seventh at Monte Carlo, Finland and Central Europe. McErlean was able to match and in some cases post faster times than his more experienced team-mate Munster.

Joshua McErlean, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Ford Puma Rally1

The performances impressed M-Sport resulting in the squad offering up a new deal for 2026 in the hope that McErlean can build on a strong start to his Rally1 career.

“We made real progress throughout 2025, and I’m excited to build on everything we learned and put it into action next year,” said McErlean.

“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.”

M-Sport Ford team principal Richard Millener, added: “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.

“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."

M-Sport has left the door open to more additions, stating “further announcements on M-Sport’s remaining line-up will be made soon".

The squad ran a seven-round programme for rising star Martins Sesks this year, culminating in the Latvian challenging for victory in Saudi Arabia. Sesks’ particularly impressed the M-Sport team in last month’s finale, although his plans for next year are yet to be revealed.   

WRC 2026 driver line-up

Toyota

Elfyn Evans, Takamoto Katsuta, Sebastien Ogier (10 rallies), Sami Pajari, Oliver Solberg

Hyundai

Thierry Neuville, Adrien Fourmaux, Dani Sordo (part-time), Esapekka Lappi part-time), Hayden Paddon (part-time)

M-Sport-Ford

Josh McErlean, Jon Armstrong

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