Nagle and Meeke back to defend Portugal title

PAUL Nagle and Kris Meeke will be hoping to put their monster Rally Argentina crash behind them and return to winning ways at this weekend’s Rally Portugal.

The Kerry / Tyrone crew won the Porto-based rally last season but their 2017 season has been a mixed bag so far.

Highlights include winning Rally Mexico in March and leading Rally Corsica until engine problems forced retirement in April.

Their lowest point came in Argentina where the Citroen Total Abu Dhabi crew rolled an incredible eight times and into a spectacular retirement. Meeke described the accident as the biggest in his career.

Meeke said: “Argentina was wild – nothing went as planned. It happens sometimes, you just have to put it behind you. I feel okay ahead of Portugal, although I can’t say I’m overflowing with confidence. I think that the work done in our recent test sessions will help us move in the right direction. I’m pleased to be competing at this rally. Obviously, I have some fond memories of winning here in 2016. And the enthusiasm of the fans here for our sport makes for a very special atmosphere. Quite a lot of changes have been made to the course, so in a lot of cases we’ll have to start from scratch with the pace notes.

Like last year, the rally will kick off on Thursday evening in Guimarães, a city often referred to as being the “birthplace of the Portuguese nationality”. Following a super special stage held on the Lousada circuit and a night in parc ferme, the action will ramp up a notch on Friday. With adjustments to the route or run in the opposite direction to previous years, the leg’s three stages, each contested twice, will provide an initial challenge for the crews. In the evening, the competitors will head for Braga to contest a brand new street stage.

The British Rally Championship also resumes this weekend with the Scottish Rally where Killarney and District Motor Club members Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin are in action in their M-Sport supported Ford Fiesta R5.

On Saturday last Kilcummin co-driver Damien Fleming and his driver David Crossan raised a few eyebrows with their outstanding third overall on the Donegal Forestry Rally. Driving a Ford Escort Mk2, the pair finished in front of a plethora of far-more advanced modern rally machinery.