Jon Armstrong is set to make an appearance on the first round of the European Rally Championship in Poland this weekend.

The Kesh driver is using the event to get some stage mileage under his belt in advance of round three of the Junior World Rally Championship in Estonia, and will drive M-Sport Poland’s brand new Ford Fiesta Rally3.

A second Fermanagh competitor is also making the journey to Poland, with navigator Brian Hoy co-driving Cathan McCourt in their Ford Fiesta Rally2.

Armstrong’s focus remains on his JWRC title challenge, and he reckons his visit to Poland will be ideal preparation for the loose surface stages in Estonia.

“It made sense to try to make this opportunity happen because I could do with some experience on fast, gravel roads before Estonia,” he said.

“I’m really grateful to Thrustmaster, Seacon UK, and Veemann; their support along with those behind the scenes have made this experience possible.

“I have really enjoyed Rally Poland in the past - I did the rally in 2016 and I spectated at the event in 2017. It’s a nice part of the world so I just tried to take the opportunity with both hands and thankfully we were able to make it happen.”

Rally Poland was part of the World Rally Championship when Armstrong competed on it five years ago. That event brought Armstrong his first win in WRC’s Drive Dmack Cup, but this time he goes into the rally with little experience of the car he is driving.

“I have just driven the Rally3 car around a race track so far and I experienced a passenger ride on gravel with Ken Torn who I’ll be up against in Poland. It seems like a really nice package and it has good potential,” he said.

“I’ll be keen to see how we get on against Ken, the Group N cars, and how close we can get to the Rally2 cars.

“I’m really looking forward to rallying in a four-wheel-drive car again. I haven’t done that many, this will be my first full gravel rally in four-wheel drive. It is a great opportunity for me to develop even more as a driver because I am still quite limited in experience. It made sense for me to get more time making pacenotes and driving at an event of that nature which is quite similar to Rally Estonia.”

Armstrong is seeded 42nd for Rally Poland, one car behind reigning ERC 3 Junior champion Torn. Brian Hoy will start at number 34 in a high quality Rally 2 entry.