Nagle and Meeke back for Rally Finland

Sean Moriarty

THE World Rally Championship resumes this weekend with the event of the year, Rally Finland, set to get underway on Thursday. Paul Nagle and Kris Meek return to the Citroen squad after missing out on Rally Poland earlier this month and the Kerry/Tyrone crew will be hoping to repeat last year’s victory on the event. Pre-event test sessions in the region have gone well.

Meeke said: “Rally Finland has always been one of my favourite events, but it became even more special after my win here last year. You have some of the best gravel roads in the world here and it can be an awful lot of fun drive on them. I’m pleased to be back behind the wheel of the C3 WRC, although I’m expecting it to be a tough rally.

“Our test sessions were mostly held in the rain and with cool temperatures. It looks likely that we’ll have similar conditions for the rally, so my being tenth in the running order won’t be an advantage if the roads are covered in mud! Whatever happens, we’ll do our very best to secure a good result for the team.”

On the home-front, Rob Duggan was a late entry for Sunday’s Imokilly Rally in East Cork. The Killarney driver was originally on the entry list as a co-driver to Denis Nagle but secured a last minute deal to drive a Ford Escort Mk2 on the rally.

Despite the lack of preparation Duggan, the current British junior rally champion, steered the car to second overall. Charlie and Johnny Hickey were 17th and Tadgh O’Sullivan and Eoin O’Leary, 20th on the same event in their Escorts. Paidraig Cronin and Peter Falvey were second in the junior section of the rally in their Honda Civic.