Meeke and Nagle stripped of rally win

THE Irish crew of Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle have been stripped of their victory in last week’s Rally of Scotland.

It follows confirmation that the front subframe of their Peugeot 207 S2000 was 150 grams lighter than what it should have been. As a result, Skoda UK driver, Guy Wilks has been declared the winner of the event, the final round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) series. On the stages, Meeke finished 20.7 seconds ahead of Wilks.

Ironically, Meeke’s car was actually heavier than the Skoda when it was weighed prior to the rally start. Peugeot Sport director Olivier Quesnel said, “We acknowledge the stewards’ decision. We’re responsible for what happened, but not guilty of anything.

“This was down to an administrative mistake, which we intend to rectify. The mistake had no influence on the performance of the 207 Super 2000 and we must apologise to Kris Meeke, whose talent and championship title this year are beyond question.”

The decision to exclude Meeke/Nagle has no bearing on the series as the Dungannon/Killarney duo were already crowned champions prior to the Scottish event. Peugeot UK will not appeal the decision.

Meanwhile, the revised results of the Rally of Scotland promotes local hero, Alister McRae (Proton Satria) to second place with Irish driver, Jonathan Greer (Mitsubishi) third.

- Sunday’s Sligo Mini Stages Rally has attracted an entry of just over 120 crews with Daniel McKenna (Escort) heading the entry. Local stalwart, Dominic McLoughlin, in his rear wheel drive Peugeot 205 will be setting his sights on victory, however, Letterkenny’s John O’Donnell could be the one to watch.

Other entries are Victor Hunter (Escort), David Leonard (Citroen Saxo), Raymond Conlon (Toyota Corolla) and the Escort pair of Gary McElhinney and Gordon Rogers. The first stage begins at 11.17am with the second stage scheduled for 11.55am, both stages are repeated in the afternoon with the finish at the Sligo Park Hotel at 3.45pm.

- The Pacenotes Northern Ireland Car Club two-wheel drive challenge concludes tomorrow with the eight stage Gullion Rally sponsored by Your Party Banners. Former national championship regular, Norman Armstrong (Escort) is the leading entry followed by Damien Toner, also in an Escort and Raymond Conlon (Toyota Corolla). Camillus Bradley (Escort) will be expected to mount a serious challenge, David Armstrong (Escort G3), Alistair Cochrane (Escort) and Mark Doyle (Toyota Celica) are some of the other entries. The opening stage, Camlough, is scheduled to start at 10.40am. The rally is set to finish in Newry at 5.00pm.

- The Jerry Murphy Hankook Tyres Munster Autocross Championship continues on Sunday with Birr and District Motor Club’s promoted event in Glasshouse, Shinrone in County Offaly. The series is finely poised with the West Cork duo of Daniel Cronin and Coleman Hurley and Killarney’s James Lehane in contention overall victory. With three rounds remaining, including Sunday’s action, Cronin, a younger brother of British Rally champion, Keith, is two points ahead of both Hurley and Lehane. Others competing on Sunday include local aces, Mick Nevin (Escort), Mark Kane (Citroen), Eoin Fogarty (Mitsubishi), David Forde (Special) and Chris Culleton, also in a Special. The location will be signposted from Dunkerrin and Roscrea. Practice is at 11.00am with the first timed run scheduled for 11.30am. The penultimate round of the series is the Munster Autocross (December 26th.) while the Cork Autocross (December 27th.) in Castlemartyr has been added to the series – replacing one of the cancelled rounds from earlier in the season.

- The Hewison Autotest Championship continues with a double header at the weekend. Mondello Park is the venue for tomorrow’s test, the sixth round of the campaign while Sunday’s event, also promoted by the Carlow Car Club, is at Brophy’s Grainstore complex in Tullow. Currently, Eddie Peterson (Mini Special) with 120 points has a one point lead over Steven Ferguson (Mini Special) 119. Former multi champion, Eamonn Byrne (Mini) is third with 111 points. The top six is completed by Sam Johnston (Mini Special) 106 points; Paddy Power (Mini Moke) 93 points and J. J. Farrell (Mini Special) 92 points. Ger Lawlor leads the Novice Class (Europa Cup).

- The fourth round of the National Navigation Trial series, the Midland Navigation Trial will be based at the Saddlers Inn, Boyle, Co. Roscommon with the first car away at 11.30pm tomorrow night. Following the opening three rounds, Arthur Kierans/Ashley McAdoo, who won both the Cork and Monaghan events, lead opening round (Cavan) winners, Gareth Beagan/Stephen Thornton by five points.