Jon Armstrong says it is a “real honour” to have been selected as the FIA European Rally Championship’s Driver of the Year for 2025 by an esteemed panel of judges.
Armstrong dazzled in the second half of this season alongside navigator Shane Byrne as he ended his long wait for a first-ever win in the competition at Rali Ceredigion in Wales.
Proving it was no fluke, he followed this up by storming to a commanding victory on Rally Croatia in his Fiesta Rally2 but, unfortunately for him, his late purple patch was not enough to defy the odds.
After eight events split evenly between four sealed and four loose surface rallies, the 31-year-old ended up second in the ERC1 drivers’ standings, six points behind Miko Marczyk.
This was a good year for Jon and Shane [Byrne, co-driver]. Jon showed that two-year plans can work out with two rally wins and two podiums brought him within a whisker of winning the championship.
His performance in the second half of the season was a tour de force. From sealing his first ERC win, to pushing the very limits on the final round of the season – chasing a championship title to the very last kilometre. Total commitment, blinding bravery and huge smiles at stage ends cements him as my driver of the year.
