Robert's Rally Buzz - January 2026

NORTHERN IRELAND DRIVERS FOR M-SPORT

M-Sport have announced that, for the first time ever, their full-time WRC Rally1 crew line up for 2026 will be all-Irish! Northern Ireland drivers Josh McErlean from Kilrea and Jon Armstrong from Kesh will be joined by their respective co-drivers Eoin Treacy (Cork) and Shane Byrne (Donegal) in a pair of Ford Puma’s.

For McErlean this will be his second year at the top table. He and Tracey have had some success and some disappointing results in 2025. He will be expected to do better in 2026, having had experience all 14 rounds of the WRC. Of course M-Sport does not have ANYWHERE NEAR the budget of the two leading manufacturers Toyota or Hyundai. Malcolm Wilson’s team finished in a distant third place last year, once again, and will continue to struggle in 2026 without full support from Ford.

Armstrong, who replaces Gregoire Munster as a full-time driver, finished a close runner-up in the European Rally Championship last year for M-Sport in their Rally2 Fiesta and should be a perfect fit for the teams Rally1 set up.

Both Irish crews have been supported by the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy for the past number of years. John Coyne (now living in the USA)  former ITRC winner and now a very successful businessman, is the patron and the driving force behind the Academy. Coyne has been instrumental in negotiating this unique M-Sport deal.

The 2026 WRC gets underway this month in Monte Carlo. Leading the entries will be record 10-time winner, and current World Champion, Sebastien Ogier in his Toyota Yaris Rally1. Ogier is contesting 10 of the 14 rounds this year. Toyota’s full time drivers will be Elfyn Evans, Takamoto Katsuta, Sami Pajari and new-boy Oliver Solberg. Hyundai will have Thierry Neuville and Adrien Fourmaux full time plus Dani Sordo, Esapekka Lappi and Hayden Paddon sharing a third i20 Rally1 during the season.

For the M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 all-Irish team, the Monte Carlo Rally will be a challenging start to the championship. It will be in at the deep end for Jon Armstrong and Shane Byrne, but hopefully a successful return for Josh McErlean and Eoin Treacy, who finished seventh here in 2025.

M-Sport may be on the bottom rung of the WRC Rally1 pyramid, but at least we here in Northern Ireland will have a good reason (apart from Tyrone’s Aaron Johnston co-driving Toyota’s Katsuta) to follow the 2026 World Rally Championship. It will be fascinating to watch the local lads progress over the  course of a 14 round series. Who will be top M-Sport driver of the year after the final round in Saudi Arabia come November? 

Lancia return to the World Rally Championship in 2026 for the first time since 1992. The Italian mark will enter WRC2 with its new Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale. Other teams starting in Monte Carlo should include M-Sport, Toyota and Skoda.

You can stream all 14 rounds of the 2026 WRC live on Rally.TV or on TNT Sports channels (if you can afford the subscriptions!) Alternatively, a one-hour highlights program of each round can be viewed for free on ITV4, unusual the week after each event.

REGULATION CHANGES COMING IN 2027

Next year’s World Rally Championship top-tier category will be known as WRC27 Rally1, and ready-to-rally cars will be “cost capped” at £302,000. The new concept cars will deliver approximately 300 bhp. To insure the top class is heavily populated, WRC27 Rally1 cars will be eligible to compete alongside existing Rally2 machines. Toyota are the only manufacturer said to be planning a WRC27 car at the present time. The new regulations will span a 10 year period.

RALLY DIARY 📔

Wed. 22nd-Sun. 25th January
RALLYE MONTE CARLO

• Round 1 of the 2026 World Rally Championship

Thur. 12th-Sun. 15th February
RALLY SWEDEN

• Round 2 of the 2026 World Rally Championship

Sat. 28th February
SAMSONAS RALLY FIVEMILETOWN

• Round 1 of the 2026 Brown & Brown Northern Ireland Forest Rally Challenge. Organised by Omagh Motor Club. More details next month. Our first stage rally of the year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL🎉🥳🎊

2024 Marshal of the Year

Sean Flynn wins the British Rally Marshals Club Marshal of the Year Award 2024 (The Jimmy McRae Award)

The British Rally Marshals Club (BRMC) are proud to announce that the winner of the 2024 Marshal of the Year Award (The Jimmy McRae Award) is Sean Flynn.

Sean has been a member of BRMC for many years and has supported the club. A regular on BRMC stages, ready to jump in and assist with any task needed to ensure events run smoothly and safely. He always leads and encourages his fellow marshals which always results in a safe and well-run sector which means that there are never any worries about spectator or marshal safety. His upbeat attitude and wealth of knowledge have also made him an ideal ambassador for the sport, as he's constantly encouraging new people to get involved and patiently showing them the ropes.