DRAMA IN THE CANARIES AS ARMSTRONG SLIPS OFF-ROAD

DRAMA IN THE CANARIES AS ARMSTRONG SLIPS OFF-ROAD
A volatile Saturday at Rally Islas Canarias has reshaped the Irish M-Sport battle defined by localised rain, intercom failures, and high-speed narrow escapes.

In a rare feat for the 2026 season, all ten Rally1 cars remain in the running tonight, with no crews forced into SuperRally—yet.

The M-Sport Battle:

The inner-team fight at M-Sport took a decisive turn on the day’s final stage. Entering the afternoon with an 18-second lead, Josh McErlean and Eoin Treacy held their nerve as Jon Armstrong began to find his rhythm in the tricky conditions.
However, Armstrong and Shane Byrne’s pursuit ended at the 26km mark of the final test. A sudden understeer sent their Puma off the road, leaving them stranded for 1m45s until spectators pushed the car back onto the tarmac.
A dejected Armstrong didn’t hide his frustration at the finish line: “I can’t trust what I’m doing and need to go back to rally school.”
The Fermanagh driver also revealed he had been battling “torture therapy” inside the cockpit after a helmet change led to persistent crackling noises through the intercom.
McErlean remains in ninth overall and admitted he eased his pace once he received word of his teammate’s incident. “It was okay, but as soon as we got the message he was off, we backed off a bit. Where he was off—lucky. It’s a shame.”

Katsuta’s Adrenaline Quest
For Championship leader Takamoto Katsuta and Aaron Johnston, Saturday was a punishing lesson in tyre management. Despite holding fifth overall, Katsuta was blunt about the precision required on the Gran Canaria stages. “If something goes wrong one- two cm, you are done. It’s an adrenaline stage,” he noted after SS12.
By the end of the loop, the focus shifted to technical improvement. “I still need to fix myself. In these clean conditions, I was too hard on the tyres. It’s not easy, but this is the time to learn.”

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WRC2 and Retirements
In WRC2, James Fulton and Yuki Yamamoto were reported stopped in the day’s final stage. While the crew are okay, they lost approximately two minutes before getting back underway.(More on this later)
The other major Irish casualty was Philip Allen and Craig Drew. Their rally ended on SS9 following a steering joint failure that resulted in a sizeable accident. Fortunately, the crew are okay following the frightening high-speed exit.

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