The Irish pairing of Jon Armstrong and Shane Byrne lead the 2025 JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion by 7.3 seconds – with a maiden win in both the FIA European Rally Championship (ERC) and Probite British Rally Championship (BRC) within touching distance, as they head a M-Sport 1-2 overnight.
ERC points leaders Miko Marczyk and Szymon Gospodarczyk (Skoda Fabia Rally2) sit in third after a productive day, just ahead of BRC table toppers William Creighton and Liam Regan (Toyota Yaris Rally2) who are on course to lift the British Championship trophy on the Aberystwyth promenade tomorrow.
Welshman Osian Pryce is the top local driver and, with co-driver Andy Hayes, ends the longest day of the rally in fifth, despite being held up with intermittent power issues and struggling to find a rhythm aboard his Hyundai i20 Rally2.
The talk of the day was the Y Diafol stage. Translated as ‘The Devil’, this was a devilishly tough stage that did not disappoint. Neil Roskell and Garry Pearson were both victims in the first pass – ending their rally in the 33.8km monster.
Local hero Meirion Evans’ push for the rally win ended with a spectacular visit to the scenery. Pulling his Yaris Rally2 out of the undergrowth, Evans limped on, now several minutes back from the leaders. Even rally leader Armstrong suffered a spin but thankfully it resulted in just a heart-racing moment and cosmetic damage rather than any substantial time loss.
On the second pass in the afternoon, the stage bit hard for Max McRae (Citroen C3 Rally2) who stopped on stage with mechanical woes, while Phillip Allen (Skoda Fabia Rally2) sustained too much damage after a crash.
The day came to a close with another blast through the Aberystwyth street stage, with thousands of spectators again lining the ribbon of Tarmac and being treated to an electric atmosphere.
Leading the National Rally in their Ford Fiesta Rally2 are Sam Touzel and Max Freeman. The pair dominated the day winning every stage on their way to a commanding 2m42s lead over top local and top two-wheel-drive crew John Dalton and Gwnfor Jones in a Darrian T90 GTR.
The final day of Rali Ceredigion, with two passes over both the classic Nant y Moch reservoir stage and Mynydd Bach, which hosts the ERC Power Stage on the final run.
Rali Ceredigion National Rally leader Sam Touzel said: “I have been learning with every stage and every pass today, as I am trying to make progress this weekend. Despite being a bit further back, we want to see how we compare with the ERC guys at the front and it’s nice to compare times. I am enjoying every mile and this evening in the town was a run of big drifts, big slides and big smiles.”