Nagle promises Mexico fight-back following difficult Swedish Rally

KRIS Meeke and Paul Nagle have promised not to give up in their quest to win rounds of the 2017 World Rally Championship despite a disappointing Rally Sweden over the weekend.

The Kerry/Tyrone arrived at only all-snow rally of season on the back foot having suffered a disastrous Rally Monte Carlo last month.

They started the second day of Rally Sweden in fourth place but the Citroën Total Abu Dhabi crew lost a place on the opening test.

Although happy enough with his driving and his Citroën C3 WRC, the Tyrone man was unable to match the pace of the leaders.

He held onto fifth place until stage 14 when he missed a corner, caused by unruly suspension settings, on the Vargåsen stage and fell into a snow-filled ditch. It took a handful of brave spectators eight minutes to get him out and on his way again.

Meeke and his co-driver Nagle ended the day in 12th place in the overall standings and out of overall contention.

Shortly after the incident he said: “This morning, I had the impression I was driving well on the stages but my times weren’t good enough to hold onto fourth place. I got caught out on the second run on Vargåsen, the rear snapped away from me coming into a left-hander and I couldn’t turn in. We went off the side of the road and got stuck in the snow. Thanks to the spectators for helping us so we could finish the day.”

Although they left Sweden with two championship points, their first of the season, thanks to their fourth fastest time on Sunday’s bonus-awarding Power Stage, they trail championship leader and Rally Sweden winner Jari-Matti Latvala (Finland-Toyota) by 46 points ahead of next month’s Rally Mexico.

Speaking at the finish in Torbsy on Sunday evening Meeke said: “We haven’t finished were we wanted to be. We have a lot of work to do and we need to analyse all the information that we’ve collected so we can improve. After two winter events, we’re now going to switch to gravel and so the next test session will obviously be very useful. It’s hard for me to feel confident after two difficult rallies, but I’m not about to give in.”

Current Irish Tarmac champion Keith Cronin and his Killarney co-driver Mikie Galvin marked their maiden outing in a Ford Fiesta R5 with third overall on Sunday’s Carrick-on-Suir Forestry Rally. Although nothing is confirmed yet, it appears that the event was a high-speed test on gravel ahead of a possible assault on the British Rally Championship this year.

Kilcummin co-driver Damian Fleming one the two-wheel-drive section of the rally alongside County Down’s David Crossan in a Ford Escort MK2.