Meeke and Nagle still in the mix in Canaries

HAVING led the Rally Islas Canarias, round four of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge up until the eighth stage, the Irish crew of Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle (Peugeot 207 S2000), will begins today’s final leg in sixth position. Meeke set the pace from the start, taking a 4.4 second lead over the Skoda of Jan Kopecky.

Meeke, the reigning IRC champion, admitted he made a few mistakes as he concentrated on preserving his tyres. Although Juho Hanninen and then Kopecky punched in the best times for stages two and three respectively, Meeke led after the opening loop by 3.7 seconds, with Kopecky, a mere tenth of a second behind second placed, Hanninen. Guy Wilks, despite brake trouble, was fourth.

Meeke strengthened his position on S.S. 4 and then blasted the opposition on stages five and six to lead Kopecky by 14.5 seconds. He stretched his lead margin even further on the seventh test and enjoyed a 17.9 second lead.