After costly errors on each of the past four rounds of the World Rally Championship, M-Sport driver Jon Armstrong knows something has to change.
The Irishman’s crash on Saturday morning of Rally Chile was the latest in a line of mishaps that have blighted the second half of what had been a promising maiden campaign in the WRC’s top flight.
M-Sport team principal Richard Millener told DirtFish that he believed Armstrong’s pacenotes were the root cause of his troubles, particularly on tightening corners.
Reflecting on his latest incident, which came while he was running sixth overall on his first attempt at Rally Chile, Armstrong was inclined to agree.
“It’s quite tricky when you’ve got the pressure to get a clean rally,” Armstrong admitted to DirtFish. “Obviously Friday here was quite wet and tricky, and we managed to get through what were really narrow, tricky stages.
“And then we moved to Saturday which is more wide and faster stages, but in saying that it can be a bit more tricky to have your pacenotes correct.
Armstrong has impressed in 2026 with his speed, but the results haven't been forthcoming
“I think the corner where we rolled, I was expecting the corner to continue a bit longer before it tightened. So actually where I started decelerating was where I thought was OK but the corner then tightened a bit more than what I was thinking.
“So, yeah, it’s frustrating. I think we can analyze these areas where things are going wrong, there does seem to be some consistency. It’s not easy because you can see this morning [Sunday], whenever the confidence is fully knocked and you know the pressure is really on then you’re nowhere.
“OK, the powerstage was a lot better for us because we were back to under a second per kilometer [off the pace] there, so that’s good going forward. But I think it’s a weekend where we see how the highs and lows can be.
“I think everything will click into place sometime soon. And then the result will come. But at the minute, it’s very frustrating for everyone.”
Now Armstrong plans a ‘back-to-basics’ approach.
He explained: “I think in that particular corner, there’s quite a lot of detail, which doesn’t make it so easy to consume everything and understand everything. So potentially stripping things back a little bit [will] make it easier, and get the absolute vital information in.
Armstrong plans to work on his notes, but not at the expense of sleep
“It’s not easy when you have something like this, so it’s maybe better to be a bit more on the safe side with your notes and then build it up from there.
“Obviously you don’t want to be too cautious with your pacenotes or you’ll be slow. But in the same moment I think it’s something to be learned about trying to strip back the detail and make sure everything’s as precise as it can be.
“But in saying that, it’s new stages, so it’s hard because we’re going to a lot of new rallies and they’re coming thick and fast and you have your two passes on recce and then you check everything.
“Here there’s been, OK, less stages but long, long stages and lots of corners that need lots of detail, so it becomes a lot of work for us. We’ve got to step up to that work and get better.”
That doesn’t necessarily mean even later nights poring over videos with co-driver Shane Byrne.
“You don’t [want to] overwork,” Armstrong added, “because I think we see with other drivers, and even from myself, if you put in too many hours at night time over the rally week you can be fatigued from this as well.
“So you’re trying to find a balance. But I think it’s to be more aware of those places that catch you out and try to be more vigilant to try and figure out where you’re going to get caught out.”
