Meeke’s mind turns to Finland after Mini withdrawal

THE Irish contingent in Rally Estonia, that begins today, has been whittled down to two drivers following the withdrawal of Kris Meeke and his co-driver Paul Nagle in their Mini John Cooper Works WRC.

During testing the car picked up damage to the suspension turrets but not the roll cage. The Mini WRC team decided not to compete and instead turn their attention to Rally Finland. That leaves Craig Breen and Alastair Fisher, both in Ford Fiesta R2s, as Irish representatives and they will also use the event as a test for Finland. Breen has been the busier of late with no fewer than three tarmac rallies.

Today’s four stages include the opening 18.4km test and the Otepaa City stage (5.3km), both of which are tackled twice. It appears that the stages in Rally Estonia are very similar to what the crews will find in Finland.