Meeke fifth as Loeb leads the way in Rally GB

THE Irish crew of Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle (MINI WRC) begins today’s second leg of Rally GB, the final round of the World Rally Championship, in fifth place following a solid run through yesterday’s opening three stages.

World champion, Sebastien Loeb (Citroen) leads, his rival Mikko Hirvonen (Fiesta) just 0.7 seconds behind. Jari Matti Latvala (Fiesta) lies third, 2.4 seconds off his teammate.

Waterford’s Craig Breen, who is chasing down Estonian Egon Kaur for the inaugural WRC Academy title, has already picked up two additional points for fastest stage times to cut the deficit to 18 points with Kaur in sixth – 53.7 seconds adrift. Breen takes an overnight lead of 26.8 seconds over Ulsterman Alastair Fisher into today’s eight stages.