How the virtual rally world put Armstrong on the path to the top of WRC

Jon Armstrong was already a capable rally driver when, like many young talents dreaming of competing at the pinnacle, the funding dried up. But here is where the Northern Irishman’s story took an unconventional twist. It is fair to say that without Esports and the computer game industry, he may never have ended up achieving his dream of sitting in an M-Sport Ford Puma as a fully fledged World Rally Championship driver.

“I have always been motivated by rallying and trying to achieve something that I believe I can do,” states the 31-year-old. “I never really give up. I’ve always wanted to keep the dream alive until I wasn’t able to keep going anymore.”

Armstrong’s rise to the WRC’s top tier is unique. It is proof that hard graft and a bit of thinking outside of the box can result in achieving the dream.

His journey began as a fresh-faced teenager competing in rally sprints in Ireland from the age of 13, until he secured his driving licence and embarked on climbing the junior ranks in the British Rally Championship and European Rally Championship. His career began to gather momentum after winning the DMACK Cup Shootout, which offered a fully funded 2016 campaign driving an M-Sport Ford Fiesta R2T. That season proved to be successful, earning two prized Rally2 drives after finishing third in the DMACK Cup ahead of future M-Sport WRC driver Gus Greensmith. But, after finishing 14th and ninth in the WRC2 class in Germany and Spain respectively, the opportunities and the funding seemed to dry up.

Armstrong didn’t give in and took a route less travelled by going into the virtual world. Having been a fan of the Colin McRae Rally and Richard Burns Rally games since he was a child, and inspired by the 2017 WRC Esports championship, Armstrong entered the 2018 version. Countless hours toiling in a sim resulted in Armstrong beating thousands of entries to the title in the final, held in the Rally Germany service park. 

This was a turning point because a job with Codemasters – makers of Colin McRae Rally and the Dirt series – followed. That ultimately led to sponsorship and a route back to real-world driving in the Junior WRC. Armstrong moved from Ireland to England and worked for Codemasters, helping to produce the famed Dirt Rally 2.0 and then the EA WRC titles.

Armstrong won the 2018 WRC Esports championship, leading to a job with Codemasters as a consultant

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

“Initially I was a rally consultant so a specialist in what real rally is,” explains Armstrong. “I then moved across to be in the games design team, so I was a games designer by title, helping with a lot of different areas.

“I was working at Codemasters and staying late at night practising the WRC game. It was a bit mad because back then I just lived in a tiny box room apartment when I came over from Ireland to work there. I didn’t even have a simulator of my own, so I was just going into work early and practising late.

“The fact that I got back into the Junior WRC and finished second twice was thanks to my involvement with Codemasters and their sponsorship, which was part of the reason I joined the company because it was a good opportunity career-wise.

"I can hop on the simulator with my Thrustmaster wheel and get all the feedback through my hands and drive a stage with notes and just try to attack it like in real life. The feeling is very familiar and it really helps you when you hop into the real car" Jon Armstrong

“If you’re looking forward you don’t really look back, so sometimes I forget that I’ve done that, but it’s a big part of my history. It’s definitely a massive achievement and cool that I have won the Esports title. It took a lot of effort and dedication. Those guys are very committed and talented, and a lot of hours went into it. I think we will see that more and more with drivers who use games to practice, and they are then able to translate that to being good in a real car.”

Helped by backing from Codemasters, EA Sports and Motorsport Ireland, Armstrong came agonisingly close to the JWRC title on two occasions. He was beaten by now Toyota WRC star Sami Pajari in 2021, before losing out to WRC2 round winner Robert Virves in 2022.

But last season proved to be a breakthrough year for Armstrong, with real-world rallying his main focus thanks to a second season with M-Sport, driving a Fiesta Rally2 in the ERC.

Armstrong reclimbed the rally ladder and spent last year in the ERC

Even last year competing on an international stage, Armstrong was never too far from the simulator. “I didn’t do pre-event tests and I’d do my shakedown at M-Sport,” he recalls. “I can hop on the simulator with my Thrustmaster wheel and get all the feedback through my hands and drive a stage with notes and just try to attack it like in real life. The feeling is very familiar and it really helps you when you hop into the real car.”

After a slow start to the campaign, second place in Barum Czech Rally Zlin was followed by a maiden win at Rali Ceredigion in Wales. It meant Armstrong took the title fight down to the final round in Croatia – a rally he won – but ultimately he missed out to Poland’s Miko Marczyk.  

“It was only six points but to be honest I have kind of had those situations in Junior WRC, where I’ve come very close to winning that title too,” says a philosophical Armstrong. “It doesn’t really come across as that hurtful. In the middle of the season we were out of the running and then we brought ourselves back into it. I don’t see myself as a driver that doesn’t win titles, but it kind of unfolds that way and you just crack on with it. I think I got more satisfaction out of winning rallies than if I had won the title.”

Missing out on the crown was quickly forgotten. His performances had persuaded the powers that be at M-Sport – namely team principal Richard Millener – to offer Armstrong the chance of a lifetime. It wasn’t until a surprise unveiling at M-Sport’s Dovenby Hall workshop in December that Armstrong learned he would become a top-level WRC driver.

“It’s not the end point but I have reached the destination of where I want to get to as a rally driver – Rally1 has always been the goal,” he said after realising he would join Josh McErlean in an all-Irish, Motorsport Ireland-backed M-Sport line-up. 

“There have been lots of ups and downs through the last 10-12 years in my adult rally career. Sometimes you are not sure if the stars are going to align but thankfully we have this opportunity thanks to M-Sport and the work we have done with the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy and John Coyne. He has been helping Josh, and helps lots of other drivers as well. I think it’s great for Ireland that we have two drivers now in a Rally1 car.”

Armstrong caught the eye on his Rally1 debut in Monte Carlo

Photo by: M-Sport

In January, all that hard graft culminated in Armstrong finding himself in M-Sport Ford World Rally Team overalls in the heart of Monaco, about to cross the start ramp for a maiden run at the Monte Carlo Rally: “It feels very real now and nice to be here with all the other drivers. It’s not my first time in WRC but my first time at the highest level. It’s strange to be rubbing shoulders with them but the main thing is to try and prove that I belong here. We have done good rallies in ERC but I need to show what we can do at this level.”

Armstrong didn’t waste time in turning heads either in a tough Monte. After stage two he found himself sitting in third overall, ahead of nine-time world champion Sebastien Ogier after mastering tricky snowy conditions. Armstrong was on course for an impressive sixth until a mistake on the final day. “It was an amazing feeling after stage two to know we had done a quite a good time,” he smiles. “It was a proper baptism of fire for our first WRC event in the Rally1 car. We were happy to show some good pace throughout the weekend but ultimately wanted to get a solid result, which we didn’t manage to do on this occasion.”

It was a performance that Millener labelled as “outstanding” despite the rally ending without points for M-Sport: “While Sunday was a big disappointment and none of our three Rally1 cars reached the finish, there were still many positives – chief among them, the outstanding WRC debut of Jon and Shane [Byrne, co-driver]. Sitting as high as third overall and consistently matching, and even beating, established Rally1 competitors, they have really announced their arrival at this level. I’m excited to see what the rest of the season brings.”

Armstrong remains an advocate for using simulators; you will still find him logging on to Richard Burns Rally to blast through virtual stages in between rallies

Armstrong built on his impressive start to his Rally1 career by finishing as the top M-Sport-Ford runner in eighth at Rally Sweden earlier this month, while the 31-year-old’s previous visit to the snow rally resulted in a hard-fought victory in the Junior WRC class back in 2022.

“It’s been a strong weekend overall,” said Armstrong. “We’ve shown good flashes of speed whenever we’ve been pushing, and for only my second rally in Rally1 I think it’s been really positive. In your first season at this level it’s hard to know exactly where you should be, but you can compare with your team-mate. On some stages Martins Sesks has been quicker, which was expected. On others we’ve been faster. That’s been positive. It’s good that the pace we showed back then [in Junior WRC] is still relevant at the top level. But the level is extremely high. The top guys are on another level. At least we’ve got the finish here and some points on the board.”  

Armstrong remains an advocate for using simulators; you will still find him logging on to Richard Burns Rally to blast through virtual stages in between rallies, honing his craft. “It’s interesting as the sims are quite close but there will always be slight differences,” he points out. “I’m lucky I can pair both [sim and real driving] nowadays so I can do a bit on the sim to work on certain areas like listening to pacenotes and reactions. Trying to understand the grip of a tyre and how the aero works is always going to be slightly different on the sim. If you know what to use the sim for, it can be quite useful.”

This article is one of many in the monthly Autosport magazine. For more premium content, take a look at the March 2026 issue and subscribe today. 

The M-Sport driver will continue to use his sim driving to aid his Rally1 career

Photo by: M-Sport