Stage slip-up dashes Meeke/Nagle hopes in Finland

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.

They were able to rejoin the rally yesterday under Rally2 and claimed a point on the Power Stage.

Beginning Saturday’s leg in third, Meeke was very much in touch with the VW Polo WRC’s of Jari Matti Latvala and Sebastien Ogier. He trailed rally leader Latvala by 25 seconds, the margin could have been closer were it not for the addition of a ten second penalty.

On the morning’s opening loop Meeke only lost a few seconds to Latvala and consolidated third. Then, on S.S. 16, on the second run through the 21.14km stage, a fine drive came to an end.

The Ulsterman ran wide on a right-hand bend and clipped a tree and the pair sat out the rest of the day. Meeke said: “With the rain, we had changed the set-up before setting off, after a few kilometres there was a right-hand bend which tightened over a jump. I stayed in the middle, like I did on the first run, but when I turned into the corner I was already in the mud. The car hit a tree on the outside of the corner, breaking the front left-hand suspension. It’s a real shame, because we were on course for a good result.”

Following Meeke’s demise his team mate Mads Ostberg slotted into third. Yesterday, Latvala sealed his second win of the season while second placed Ogier won the Power Stage to claim the maximum three bonus points.

The French driver has extended his championship lead to 89 points and could claim a third title at the next round, the ADAC Rallye Deutschland. Meeke was third fastest on the Power Stage and was classified 18th.

It was also a disappointing event for the other Irish drivers, Craig Breen and Daniel McKenna.

Having his Sainteloc run Peugeot Rally Academy 208 T16 fully repaired after crashing during the shakedown stage, Breen had a short-lived event. The Waterford driver retired on S.S. 5 with an oil pressure issue. McKenna (Citroen DS3 R3T) bowed out on the previous stage with clutch problems.

Donegal’s Joe McGonigle (Skoda Fabia S2000) won the Dogleap Rally in Shackleton, Derry albeit on a tie-break with the Group N Subaru of Northern Ireland’s Derek McGarrity. Derry driver Alan McGeehan (Mini WRC) took a two second lead over McGarrity on the first of the six stages and extended the margin to ten seconds on the second stage.

McGonigle was quickest through the third but McGeehan topped the time sheets through S.S. 4 and led McGarrity by 11 seconds with McGonigle third a further six seconds in arrears.

McGeehan seemed set to take victory as he entered the final stage with a 14 seconds advantage, however, he spun his Mini WRC and had to be content with third.

McGonigle was quickest through the stage and got the verdict on the tie-break that was based on the number of fastest stage times. Alastair Cochrane (Escort) was the top two-wheel drive exponent. In the Junior category Daniel Harper (Peugeot 107) finished six seconds in front of Michael McGarrity (Citroen C1).