The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Meeke and Nagle return to World Rally Championship for Finland and Germany
CITROEN Racing has confirmed that Paul Nagle and Kris Meeke will return to the team for the next two rounds of the World Rally Championship after missing last weekend’s Rally Poland.
The Kerry/ Tyrone pair will once again form a part of the team’s three car line-up for Rally Finland (27-30 July), and for Rallye Deutschland (17-20 August).
They were asked to step aside for Rally Poland to allow them extra time to prepare for Finland, an event they won last season and to put their recent run of bad luck behind them.
Speaking at the end of Rally Poland, team boss Yves Matton said: “It’s not the first time that this has happened in the WRC: several teams have made adjustments to their driver line-up in the past. I honestly believe that Kris needed a break. The aim is very simple: for Kris to come back in better form than ever, so that we can win together. For the time being, no one can say with any certainty whether we made the right or wrong call. But we couldn’t keep doing nothing. We had to take action to end this run of results and I take full responsibility for this decision.”
On the local scene, Kerry Motor Club has appointed Jonathon O’Shea as the clerk of the course for its Kerry Winter Rally in November. The Keel man has previously clerked the Circuit of Kerry and his early appointment is seen as a vote of confidence for the popular end of season rally.
The Prestone MSA British Rally Championship resumes this weekend with the demanding Nicky Grist Stages in Builth Wells in Mid Wales. Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin got their British Title bid back on track with win on the series most recent round, Rally Ypres in Belgium. They will be hoping to capitalise on this result as the BRC races in to the second half of the season.