ESPORTS SHOWDOWN

Twelve months ago, Jon Armstrong was driving an M-sport Ford Fiesta R5 as his prize for winning a section of the Junior World Rally Championship. This time around, the likeable Northern Irishman was back in the service park as a bona fide world champion.

A world champion in his socks, for Saturday night was the Esports WRC grand final. The 13-round season started in Monte Carlo, but without the logistical nightmare of having to freight cars and folk around the world, the virtual season could be completed much more quickly. The 13th and final round was in Finland.

Last week, the top 12 of the hundreds of thousands of folk who competed gathered to be whittled down to a final four. I’ll admit, I was a touch sceptical about the whole thing, especially when the four gamers took their shoes off, pulled their Nomex gloves on and sat themselves down behind the telly.

“It’s about the feel,” Armstrong said. I nodded, feeling as though I was the only one who didn’t think it was actually real…

Don’t get me wrong, I spent far too long doing a gross injustice to Colin Mcrae’s name on my Playstation a good while ago, but I’d got nothing on these boys. To get to the level he’d reached, Armstrong reckoned he’d had 250 hours at the wheel.

From the moment the three-stage final started, I was completely hooked. The speed, precision and commitment of these drivers was staggering. Armstrong rolled on the second stage, but recovered to take a narrow win.

And he delivered a sublime line at interview when asked what he’d be doing with the £20,000 Hyundai road car his win brought him.

“I don’t know… I’ll probably sell it.” And why not? He’s got a real rally career to restart as well as a world title to defend. Virtually.