Ireland's Josh McErlean will return to the FIA World Rally Championship next year after securing a second consecutive season with the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team, driving a Ford Puma Rally1.
The 26-year-old Derry driver, part of the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy, will once again be co-driven by Eoin Treacy for the 2026 campaign.
And, in a surprise announcement, Ireland will also have a second crew in the 2026 WRC, with Rally1 newbies Jon Armstrong and Shane Byrne also joining the line-up at M-Sport.
Armstrong claimed his first podium finishes on the European Rally Championship in Poland and Czech Rally Zlin, before his maiden ERC victory at Wales Rali Ceredigion.
After fighting for the ERC title all the way to the final day of the championship, Armstrong was runner-up in the series after a commanding win on Croatia Rally in October.
McErlean and Tracy followed the late Craig Breen as the only all-Irish crew competing at the top level of the WRC, and it was a case of in at the deep end for the pair in 2025, competing in the full WRC season.
It was a challenging debut Rally1 season for the Irish duo, whose best results this year were three seventh-placed finished in the Puma, which meant an 11th place finish overall in the WRC.
Late last year, McErlane made the step up from WRC2 to the top echelon of rallying. Since the end of the season, which culminated in the final round in Saudi Arabia, talks between the Irish driver's representatives and M-Sport Ford World Rally team principal Richard Millener began.
Millener had indicated he would be keen to work with the Irish driver for another 12 months if the required funds could be secured.
"I'm very happy to announce that we will be welcoming Josh and Eoin back to the team for the 2026 season," said Millener.
"It's also very exciting to see Jon and Shane get the opportunity to make the step-up to Rally1 machinery with us. I'm genuinely eager to see how they progress throughout 2026.
The 2026 FIA World Rally Championship gets under way at the legendary Monte Carlo Raly from 22-25 January, with 13 more rounds on the roster ending once again, with Rally Saudi Arabia in November.
McErlane finished seventh at the event last year on his WRC debut in the Puma
"I'm absolutely thrilled to be confirmed with M-Sport for the 2026 WRC season," said McErlean.
"To be given the opportunity to come back for a second year at this level honestly means everything.
"I'm incredibly grateful to M-Sport and the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy for continuing to believe in me and giving me the chance to build properly.
"2025 was all about learning, learning the car, the championship, the rhythm of Rally1, and what it really takes, mentally and physically, to operate at this level week in, week out.
"We made real progress across the season, and I could feel things starting to click more and more as the year went on.
"I'm in a completely different place mentally compared to this time last year. I feel stronger, clearer in my thinking, and much more comfortable in the environment.
"There's still a huge amount to learn, but now I feel ready to really put into practice everything we've taken from that first year."
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