Season back on track as Nagle wins Brazilian Rally
Wednesday March 10 2010
KERRY rally star Paul Nagle got his Inter-continental Rally Championship campaign back on track with victory at the Rally de Curitiba in Brazil at the weekend. The Killarney co-driver alongside Ulster's Kris Meeke put the disappointment of crashing out of the Monte Carlo Rally behind them with victory in the event for the second year running.
The Irish duo lead from start to finish to claim a victory by 46 seconds from Britain's Guy Wilks, with the man he beat to last year's IRC title, Czech Jan Kopecky, back in third.
Speaking after the event Nagle was full of praise for his partner.
"Kris was outstanding over the two days his pace and dedication on the stages was a testament to the professional that he is and also Peugeot UK and Kronas who made sure the car was 100% over the two days," Paul enthused.
"It's a near-perfect result for us and it's great to have put all the experience of last year to such good use," said Meeke.
"Paul [Nagle] has been brilliant alongside me and made no mistakes. It's not been easy this weekend, but we've learned to control the lead and that's really pleasing. We've been relaxed, driven in the middle of the road, but also showed plenty of commitment when we needed to. I know what it takes to win again."
Day 1 saw Meeke and Nagle dominate the event setting fastest time on the opening 4 stages before the first service halt of the day to lead by 23.1 seconds from the Skoda of Guy Wilks/Phil Pugh. With 3 more stages remaining on the opening day the crew once again dominated the proceedings setting two fastest times to lead the rally by 32.7 seconds from Guy Wilks/Phil Pugh with the Skoda S2000 of Jan Kopecky/Petr Stary a further 1 minute adrift in 3rd place.
Torrential overnight rain caused the cancellation of 3 of the remaining 8 stages on day 2 but Meeke and Nagle's performance once again saw them extend their lead finishing 46.7 seconds ahead of their nearest rivals Skoda's Guy Wilks/Phil Pugh.
The Irish parternship now fly to Buenos Aires for the Rally of Argentina, which starts on March 19.
- Damian Stack
