Academy crews return to asphalt for ERC's Rally di Roma Capitale

The European Rally Championship continues this weekend in the first of four asphalt events that make up the second half of the series.

Jon Armstrong and Shane Byrne have shown incredible speed so far this season, taking their first ERC podium together on June’s Rally Poland. The M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally2 crew scored nine stage wins on their Donegal International Rally debut a week later, proving the package’s pace on both loose and sealed surfaces.

The Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy duo is seeded seventh for this weekend’s Rally di Roma Capitale, round five of the European Rally Championship.

With several Italian Rally Championship regulars entered, Armstrong is well aware of the pace needed to challenge for a top finish on the fast, twisty Italian asphalt roads. Lying sixth in the ERC standings at its halfway point, Armstrong and Byrne will be focusing on securing a strong result on the Fiuggi-based event.

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Two all-academy crews continue their Junior ERC campaigns on Rally di Roma Capitale.

Keelan Grogan and Ayrton Sherlock were set to take a well-earned top-five finish on Junior ERC’s last round in Poland, only for a late puncture to cost them four minutes and three places in the competitive Rally4 category.

The Peugeot 208 Rally4 crew is looking forward to making their return to asphalt rallying for the first time since April’s Rally Sierra Morena.

“I feel ready to take on the challenge of Rally di Roma,” Grogan started. “We return to tarmac for the rest of the championship after completing two gravel events in Hungary and Poland.

“The stages in Rome are tight and twisty, but the biggest challenge will be the temperatures we will have to deal with in the car, which are expected to be quite high. We have prepared as much as we can, so it will be important to manage it over the weekend."

“Hopefully, we can carry forward some of our tarmac pace from round one in Spain and improve on it over the weekend to achieve a strong result.”

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Fellow MI Rally Academy athletes Craig Rahill and Conor Smith are ready to give it their best on the asphalt stages after strong gravel pace in Hungary and Poland went unrewarded with a brace of retirements.

Rahill made a fantastic start to his Junior ERC campaign, setting top times to finish fourth on its Spanish opener.

“This year hasn’t been going as we planned with disappointments in the last two rounds,” reflected the 21-year-old. “But we are still building experience and learning a lot, which is the main thing."

“We are looking forward to getting back onto tarmac. Things went well during our last tarmac event on Rally Sierra Morena. We managed to finish fourth then so we will be hoping to pick up where we left off."

“I am excited to join the MS Munaretto team for Rally di Roma, it will take a bit of adjusting to, but the guys have been very welcoming so far, and it will be nice to work with them through the event.”

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MI Rally Academy co-driver Killian McArdle continues his European Rally Championship campaign alongside Ford Fiesta Rally3 pilot Casey Jay Coleman. The Irish duo are eighth in ERC3 after securing their best result to date on June’s Rally Poland.

Rally di Roma Capitale gets underway with a shakedown stage on Friday morning before its spectacular super-special opener beside Rome’s famous Colosseum. Crews will tackle six stages on both Saturday and Sunday, completing a total of 208 competitive kilometres.

Closer to home, academy co-driver Darragh Mullen will be in action on Sunday’s Ravens Rock Rally, round four of Ireland’s National Rally Championship. Mullen, who guided Kyle McBride to a Rally4 win on the Donegal International Rally, is returning to Oran England’s co-driver’s seat this weekend.

The Ford Fiesta Rally4 duo scored a podium on their last outing together, the Mayo Forestry Rally.

“This will be Oran’s second rally using his own notes,” Mullen described. “So it will be a steady approach to continue the learning curve.

“We have done plenty of work in the background with recce practice, so our aim for the weekend is to build on previous events and have a good, clean, steady run. It will be a challenge for sure with 13 Rally4s present, so we will be looking for a solid result and a decent haul of championship points.”