Jon Armstrong recorded his best-ever finish in the European Rally Championship as he claimed seventh overall at Rally Islas Canarias. 

Armstrong was running as high as fifth towards the end of the first day's action over the twisting tarmac roads of the Canary Islands, and although he slipped back a couple of spots before the finish he declared himself happy with a result that lifted him to seventh in the Championship standings after the opening two rounds of the series.

“It was a good result given the people around us. To be in seventh and get another top 10, and sandwiched between two WRC drivers, I can’t complain too much,” said Armstrong, who finished one place behind Haydon Padden and one place ahead of Mads Ostberg.

“On the Friday on day one, we had some really good times, even ahead of the Spanish guys who got ahead of us in the end. They must have got up to speed and had a bit more knowledge of how to get the most times out of the roads, but I think overall it was a really positive event. To improve on eighth on round one was good.”

After a cautious start over the opening two tests, Jon set the fifth fastest time on each of the next two stages before ending day one in sixth.

Day two saw him locked in a tight battle with Citroen’s former WRC driver Ostberg for seventh, with Jon holding him off with two seconds to spare.

“We had no major issues,” said Jon. “On the second loop on day one, I started to have a bit more heat in the brakes. I was struggling to get a good rhythm because the pedal was getting a bit longer, but then we changed them overnight and I had no issues on the Saturday.”

The event was only Jon’s second rally in the M-Sport backed Ford Fiesta, and he admits he is still coming to terms with the car.

“We changed a few things on the set up to try and find a better setting for the longer corners, to make sure the front was tucking in, but it wasn’t always so simple to know what direction to go in,” he said.

“In the pre-event test, you always do a lot of things, but I think one thing this year I am learning with the Rally2 car is sometimes whatever feels really positive in terms of set-up might not always be the fastest way. It is about building up a bit of knowledge about what works for me and what works for the car.”

Jon’s next outing is the third round of the series, over the loose surfaces of the Scandinavian Rally in Sweden.

It is an event that Jon competed on last year, finishing one place outside the top 10, but he is looking to improve on that result next month.

“I did it last year in a Rally2 car but struggled a wee bit to get into the right zone with set-up,” he admitted.

“I will try to improve on last year, where I finished eleventh. It is public roads, but a lot of their public roads are gravel and they are wide and fast and flowing so it’s about getting into a different way of driving. I am looking forward to it. It should be an interesting one and all being well we can keep improving.”