2018 WRC Esports winner Jon Armstrong has just announced a sponsorship deal with EA Sports to complement his real-life rally career.
The talented Nothern Irishman competes in the Junior World Rally Championship and will drive a Ford Fiesta Rally3 car for the 2022 season. 2021 was a breakthrough year for the 27-year-old, as he took two JWRC wins on the Croatia Rally and Ypres Rally Belgium, finishing second in the championship.
In the end, he was unfortunate not to secure the 2021 Junior World Rally Championship (JWRC) title from Finland’s Sami Pajari, as the two raced toe to toe throughout the season.
Armstrong retired from one event and finished fourth on the final double points-paying round – the RACC Rally Catalunya de España – which Pajari won.
Armstrong is employed by EA Codemasters as a game designer and worked on the latter stages of Dirt Rally 2.0’s development – his likeness even featured in-game. However, his quest for sponsorship to fund his rally career has always been a struggle, but thankfully his 2022 campaign is now secure.
We spoke to Armstrong on an episode of our podcast about his life as a game designer, esports athlete and rally driver, and he provided some fascinating insights.
With EA Codemasters securing the rights to develop the official WRC game from 2023 onwards, their presence as title sponsor on a rally car makes complete sense, and we can be sure that Armstrong will aim to bring his real-life experiences to the development process.
Codemasters sponsored the Northern Irishman for his 2021 JWRC campaign before they were eventually bought by EA, so this deal can be seen as a extension of their relationship, and Armstrong will surely be aiming to go one better in 2022.
Round one of the 2022 JWRC runs from24th-27th February, and Armstrong heads to Sweden to battle it out on the snowy roads of Västerbotten County across 19 Special Stages.
He’ll be hoping for better luck than his last visit to Sweden, where his spectacular off went viral.
Images courtesy of Jon Armstrong’s Twitter feed
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