European Rally Championship: Jon Armstrong third at Rally Poland

Motorsport Ireland driver Jon Armstrong earned his best result of the European Rally Championship season by finishing third at Rally Poland.

World Rally Championship driver Martins Sesks, from Latvia, won the rally by one minute and six seconds ahead of Poland’s Mikolaj Marczyk, with Armstrong and co-driver Shane Byrne 9.5 seconds further back in third.

Jos Verstappen, father of reigning Formula 1 champion Max, crashed out of the rally on the final stage.

M-Sport driver Armstrong ended the opening day of running in fourth place, and picked up a position when Roope Korhonen rolled out of second place on the 10th stage.

Armstrong, from Northern Ireland, started to challenge local hero Marczyk for second but incurred a 10-second penalty for clipping a bale at a chicane on the 12th stage.

That proved to be costly as he finished 0.5 seconds in front, but the penalty kept him in third place.

“What a weekend in Poland,” said Armstrong.

“I’m so pleased to have claimed my career-first gravel podium here, put down some good pace and come away with this great result for the team.”

The result, along with four additional bonus points for being second quickest on the final stage, moves Armstrong up to sixth in the championship after four of the eight rounds.

The next event takes place in Rome at the start of July.