Ford driver Armstrong leads the rally after eight special stages, holding a 7.3-second advantage over fellow Ford competitor, Estonian Romet Jürgenson. While M-Sport Ford’s fortunes in the World Rally Championship have been dismal in recent years, the picture looks rather different in the tier below.
“I felt that I drove well. The stage was really fast, so maybe it didn’t quite suit us. We lost a bit of time, but let’s see what Romet does. It’s been a good day,” Armstrong commented.
In third place is Poland’s Mikolaj Marczyk, who also leads the European Rally Championship standings. The Škoda driver trails the leader by 20.9 seconds. Irishman William Creighton, competing in a Toyota, is fourth, 31 seconds off the pace.
Italy’s Andrea Mabellini, who is fighting Marczyk for the European title, received a two-minute time penalty even before the rally began, after a member of his service crew was caught driving on a special stage ahead of the actual competition. Despite this setback, Mabellini lies sixth in the rally, although nearly two and a half minutes behind the leaders.
For Mabellini, however, the situation is still manageable, as the ERC points table drops the worst result from the final standings. Mabellini’s dropped result would be his retirement from Rally Sweden, while Marczyk currently has two seventh places on his record.
The ERC Rally Wales continues on Sunday with four more special stages. The final round of the season will take place in Croatia in October.
ERC Rally Wales, standings after SS7/12:
| POS. | Driver | Car | Time |
| 1. | Jon Armstrong | Ford | 1:04:05.3 |
| 2. | Romet Jürgenson | Ford | +7.3 |
| 3. | Miko Marczyk | Skoda | +20.9 |
| 4. | William Creighton | Toyota | +31.0 |
| 5. | Osian Pryce | Hyundai | +1:20.2 |
| 6. | Andrea Mabellini | Skoda | +2:28.3 |
| 7. | Callum Black | Ford | +2:42.3 |
| 8. | Eamonn Kelly | Ford | +5:53.7 |
