Armstrong takes first ERC podium as Meeke secures Portuguese title

Northern Ireland's Jon Armstrong claimed his first European Rally Championship podium on Sunday, while Kris Meeke triumphed in the Portuguese Rally Championship.

Armstrong and co-driver Eoin Treacy finished second in Poland after a stunning final day in the ERC.

The Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy crew started the second day of action in seventh place, but five stage wins on Sunday vaulted them into podium contention.

M-Sport Ford driver Armstrong was fastest on the final power stage to move into second place past Hayden Paddon, who clinched the title by finishing third.

The 30-year-old ended up 18.3 seconds behind rally winner Andrea Mabellini.

Armstrong's success was the first podium finish on an ERC rally for an all-Irish crew since the late Craig Breen and Paul Nagle took third overall on Rally Estonia in 2021 at the wheel of a Hyundai i20 R5.

"This is right up there with some of my best achievements," said Armstrong, who is a two-time runner up in the Junior WRC.

"I would say this is one of my best events I have ever done.

"Hopefully, this result puts me in the shop window again for next year. A full package again would be very nice or do other events and maybe a couple of WRC 2 rallies."

There was drama as Meeke, a five-time winner in the World Rally Championship, claimed the Portuguese Rally title by finishing in third place at Rallye Vidreiro Centro de Portugal.

The 45-year-old was originally disqualified for failing to stop at a tyre marking zone on the opening day after a late change to the rally's road book, and that was later downgraded to a three-minute penalty.

That was successfully appealed by his Team Hyundai Portugal, who provided fresh information, and the penalty was further reduced to one minute and 15 seconds.

A fired-up Meeke regrouped and worked his way through the order to finish in third place, which was good enough to win the title.

In his first full season in the championship with Hyundai, Meeke clinched the title by two points over Armindo Araujo, who won the rally but missed out on overall honours.