Nagle seventh in Wales Rally GB as Killarney Historic Rally launched

KRIS Meeke and Paul Nagle finished seventh on Wales Rally GB last weekend – an insignificant result – except it was the first all gravel rally the pair finished since Rally Finland in August.

Citroen Racing were never going to challenge for a top spot in Wales any, the French squad elected to do all its pre-event testing in the south of France to safe money while all their rivals tested in mid Wales in the run up to the event.

The Kerry/Tyrone crew were in the mix ion Friday, running as high as third, but a broken rear aerofoil and a stall at a chicane on Satur- day put paid to any further potential challenge.

Kris Meeke: “Normally, I wouldn’t be happy with seventh place. The battle was mainly for second place and for a long time, we were only thirty seconds or so back, among a group of drivers that were quite tightly bunched together. I dropped back slightly when I made a little mistake on Saturday but I’m still pleased with my rally. I felt good all weekend – it’s been a while since I felt that comfortable on this type of surface, throughout an entire rally.”

Meanwhile, Killarney and District Motor Club has released details of its December 2 Rentokil-Initial Historic Rally.

The club has announced details of the route and Ireland’s only event catering for rally machines of yesteryear will feature some of the most challenging rally roads in the country.

Competitors and fans can look forward to run over classic roads like Moll’s Gap, Ballaghbeama and Caragh Lake.

As usual, the rally will feature a sting in the tail, two runs over the popular Rockfield test will run back on Saturday evening with the second run tasking place under the cover of darkness.

Speaking at the Killarney and District Motor Club’s meeting, clerk of the course Kevin Flannery said: “With over 110km of competitive action it over classic Killarney road, this event will test driver and machine. We are using a version of Rockfield that has not been used on either the Rally of the Lakes or the Historic rally for over ten years meaning we can offer something new alongside the traditional Killarney classics.”