Meeke/Nagle lead Rally Azores
With six fastest stage times through today's nine tests, the North/South pairing of Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle in their Peugeot UK 307 S2000 have swept into an impressive lead of 40.2 seconds at the end of the first leg of Sata Rally Azores today.
Meeke/Nagle didn't wait long to head the overall standings in what is the fourth round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC).
They were in front on the day's opening stage, overtaking Super Special leader, Freddy Loix (Peugeot 307).
On one of the morning stages, they had a slice of "Irish luck" when they damaged a wheel rim after hitting a rock on the final bend, amazingly, the tyre did not deflate.
Juho Hanninen (Skoda) had a similar experience but he lost some 10 minutes, before crashing out on the day's final stage.
Meanwhile, Freddy Loix (Peugeot 307) lost time with two punctures and dropped outside the top 10, however, he recovered to finish the day in fifth place.
Meanwhile, Meeke/Nagle punched in the fastest times on the day's final four stages to extend their lead over the similar Peugeot of Nicolas Vouilloz.
1. K. Meeke/P. Nagle (Peugeot) 1h. 20m. 29.8s.
2. N. Vouilloz/N. Klinger (Peugeot) 1h. 21m. 10.6s.
3. J. Kopecky/P. Stary (Skoda) 1h. 21m. 20.4s.
4. A. Alen/T. Alane (Abarth) 1h. 21m. 48.0s.
5. F. Loix/F. Miclotte (Peugeot) 1h. 22m. 17.2s.
6. G. Basso/M. Dotta (Abarth) 1h. 22m. 30.7s.
In the Manx Telecom Rally on the Isle of Man, Paul Bird (Ford Focus WRC) holds an overnight lead of 21.3 seconds over the Hyundai of Marcus Dodd in second spot.
The Welsh/Irish duo of Mel Evans/Sean Mullally (Subaru WRC), who won this event last year, hold third place - 28.8 seconds further behind.
Wicklow's, Daniel Barry and his co-driver, Martin Brady are the top crew in the Mitsubishi Evo Challenge UK series - 17.8 seconds ahead of Welshman Simon Hughes.
1. P. Bird/I. Windress (Ford Focus WRC) 24m. 20.1s.
2. M. Dodd/A. Bargery (Hyundai Accent WRC) 24m. 41.4s.
3. M. Evans/S. Mullally (Subaru WRC) 25m. 00.2s.
4. S. Perez/S. McAuley (Ford Focus WRC) 25m. 19.9s.
5. R. Duckworth/M. Broomfield (Subaru WRC) 25m. 25.3s.
6. S. Quine/R. Skinner (Mitsubishi Evo 6) 25m. 31.8s.
7. D. Barry/M. Brady (Mitsubishi Evo 9) 25m. 34.0s.
8. D. Kynaston/A. Russell (Audi A3) 25m. 45.5s.
9. S. Hughes/C. Parry (Mitsubishi Evo 9) 25m. 51.8s.
10. W. Sisson/D. Stone (Mitsubishi Evo 9) 25m. 57.1s.
