With their Citroen DS3 WRC armed with several significant upgrades to the engine, suspension, aerodynamics and gearbox, the Irish crew of Meeke and Paul Nagle expect to be fighting for the leading places on Rallye Monte Carlo that cranks into gear this evening.

Motorsport

Motorsport: Waterford’s Craig Breen begins his attack on the European Rally Championship that gets underway today with the Internationale Jannerrallye in Austria.

Former triple British Rally Champion Keith Cronin is delaying his assault on the WRC2 category of the 2015 World Rally Championship.

An early Christmas present — that is how Waterford’s Craig Breen described the announcement that will see him remain with Peugeot Sport next season and along with tackling the European Rally Championship (ERC) campaign, he will also compete in seven rounds of the WRC2 category within the World Rally Championship.

Dominant through the opening stage, Cork’s Denis Moynihan and his Kerry co-driver Ger Conway in their Airflow Services/Daikin backed Mk 1 Ford Escort went on to take a deserved victory in the Rentokil-Initial Killarney Historic Rally, the first round of the 2015 Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Historic Championship.

On their debut for the factory Citroen Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team, Dungannon’s Kris Meeke and Killarney’s Paul Nagle netted a podium finish along with a bonus point from the Power Stage of Rallye Monte Carlo, the first round of the World Rally Championship.

Irish pair Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle in their Citroen DS3 WRC made a memorable start to the World Rally Championship and hold second overall after the opening day of an incident-filled Rallye Monte Carlo.

Paul Nagle achieves a lifetime ambition when he straps himself alongside Kris Meek in Rallye Monte Carlo next week. But the Killarney native is no ordinary passenger