Meeke full of praise for Nagle as rally crew announce amicable split up

KRIS Meeke has been handed a World Rally Championship lifeline by the Toyota Gazzoo World Rally team for the 2019 season but his long-time co-driver, Killarney’s Paul Nagle, won’t be joining him after the pair decided to go their separate ways.

Meeke and Nagle have worked together since 2007, their first victory together coming on the Ulster International Rally that year.

In 2009 they won the Intercontinental Rally Challenge with Peugeot, the forerunner to the current European Rally Championship, before joining the Prodrive run BMW Mini Team for the 2011 World Rally Championship.

The Kerry / Tyrone partnership were a central part of Citroen’s world championship campaigns from 2014 until earlier this year when they were sensationally, and unfairly, dropped by the French squad following an accident on Rally Portugal.

Since their dismissal the pair have maintained a low profile but have been working behind the scenes to secure a return in 2019, and it was confirmed last week the Meeke would join Toyota after months of rumour and speculation. However, it was also confirmed that Nagle would not join him at the Japanese squad.

Neither party would be drawn into giving exact reasons for the split but the decision, it seems, was mutual and amicable, with Nagle understood to be the main driver of the decision.

Meeke took time out of his Toyota announcements last week to praise Nagle for his support and dedication over the last five seasons, a partnership that led to five world victories and made Nagle the country’s most successful Motorsport Ireland licence holder.

Meeke said: “The relationship between a co-driver and a driver is a complex one. We’re a team, but there are times when the dynamic in the car favours the driver and others when there’s no doubt that it’s the navigator who’s in charge. It takes a special person to cope with those shifts in responsibility – to second-guess the driver’s mood and help to manage how they approach each stage as the story of an event develops.

“Paul has been that person for me for a decade, really. If you want an example of the guy’s ability and professionalism, look no further than the onboard footage from Ouninpohja the year we won Rally Finland. We’d targeted that stage and been through the video early that morning – but even so, the absolute commitment that I gave those 33 kilometres from behind the wheel was matched, 100 percent, by Paul’s total focus in getting the pace notes to me at precisely the right moment.”

Nagle has not ruled out a return to the top flight next season with a different driver, and with several teams yet to confirm their 2019 driver line-ups his appearance in Monte Carlo, the season opener in January, is very possible.

Killarney and District Motor Club 40th anniversary

KILLARNEY and District Motor Club celebrated its 40th anniversary on Saturday night with a triple celebration that included the prize giving ceremony for the 2018 Irish Tarmac Rally Championship and the series’ ruby anniversary.

The Gleneagle Hotel hosted the celebration where 19 of the past winners of Ireland’s premier rally championship were present to celebrate four decades of international rallying in Ireland.

A special presentation was made to the founding members of the local club who are still active today, people like Mike and Noreen Marshal, Des O’Neill and Fintan Foley are still very much part of the operation that organises world-renowned events like the Rally of the Lakes and the Killarney Historic Rally.

Northern Ireland Rally Championship

Noel O’Sullivan Jr navigated Conor McCluskey to a start-to-finish victory on Saturday’s Tyrone Rally, the final round of the Northern Ireland Stage Rally Championship, in a Ford Fiesta World Rally Car.

The Derry/Kerry crew controlled the Cookstown Motor Club organised rally from start to finish, eventually crossing the finish ramp 11 seconds clear of William Creighton and Liam Regan in a Citroen DS3 R5.

“I really enjoyed the event,” McCloskey said. “It was a last-minute decision to enter the rally and it’s great to get the result. We had some brake trouble early on when the pedal went to the floor but we got it sorted and I was much happier after that.”

John McCarthy partnered John Devlin to second in the twowheel-drive category but it was not enough to secure championship honours.

James and Heather Kennedy took the rally and championship spoils after a tight battle with Devlin and McCarthy that ended two stag- es from home. Going into the last two stages Kennedy held the edge and had a nine-second cushion over Devlin, who was resigned to finishing second in class.

“We can’t beat them in the championship,” Devlin admitted after stage 12 of 14. “We needed to win the class and hope that someone else finished the rally between me and James so that’s the fight over.”

Fastnet Rally

THERE is massive Kerry interest in the traditional October Bank Holiday weekend Fastnet Rally which takes place in Bantry on Sunday.

Top local seeds are the Killarney and District Motor Club pairing of Daniel Cronin and Shane Buckley in their Ford Fiesta R5, Ballylickey based Cronin very much on home ground.

There is a fleet of local Escorts in the top 20 led by Kenmare’s Vincent O’Shea who starts at nine and Denis Hickey and Sean Nolan who are tenth on the road.

The experienced Charlie and Johnny Hickey start at 19, one place ahead of Conor Murphy and Kieran O’Donoghue who are on their first outing in an Escort following several events in a Honda Civic this year.

There is a late entry from Tim Enright and Stephen Buckley who will certainly start further up the order than their listed door number of 84 in another Ford Escort MK 2.

Con Lucey and Keith McCarthy will be in contention for class 12 honours in their Escort.

In the junior section Colin O’Donoghue and Lianne O’Sullivan start at two in a Honda Civic while Tralee based Donegal man Gary Carty is the third seed in a Citroen C2.