Irish hopefuls gear up for Rally Finland challenge

Immersed in a test programme with Citroen’s new challenger for the 2017 World Rally Championship, this weekend’s Rally Finland, round eight of the WRC, offers the Irish crew of Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle the opportunity to return to competitive action in the Abu Dhabi Total WRT-run Citroen DS3 WRC to pit their skills against the WRC regulars.

Winners last time out in Rally Portugal, they will be joined by two other crews from the team, Craig Breen/Scott Martin and Khalid Al Qassimi/Chris Patterson.

Meeke’s best result in Finland was third in 2014. “I’m not competing in every rally this season, but I was determined that Finland should be part of my programme. It’s a rally that often comes down to just a few 10ths of a second and it will provide a good opportunity for me to work on my turn of speed.”