On course for a top three finish in Rally Finland the Irish crew of Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle had their hopes dashed when they slid wide on a right hand bend, clipped a tree and damaged the front axle of their Citroen DS3 WRC during Saturday’s second leg.

At the conclusion of the first leg of the Murphy Construction Cork “20” International Rally, Tim NcNulty/Eugene O’Donnell (Subaru WRC) have a 23 second advantage over the Subaru of Derek McGarrity/Dermot O’Gorman with Eugene Donnelly/Paul Kiely (Toyota Corolla WRC) a further 22 seconds in arrears.