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Meeke and Nagle fail to capitalise on their advantage
K
KRIS MEEKE and Paul Nagle crashed out on day one of last weekend’s World Rally Championship opener in Monte Carlo, failing to capitalise on extensive preseason testing Citroen's new generation WR car.
They re-joined on Saturday under rally 2 rules (regulations that allow a driver who retires from an event to re-enter the next day at the cost of a five-minute time penalty), only to be hit by another car on a road section between stages, forcing the pair to retire immediately from the event.
The eventual winner was M-Sport’s late signing, Sebastian Ogier, in the new generation Ford Fiesta WRC. He was joined on the podium by his ex-teammate Jarri Matti Latvala in a Toyota Yaris WRC, Toyota returning to the WRC after an 18-year absence. The final step was occupied by Ogier’s current teammate Ott Tanak.
Kris Meeke’s Citroen teammate Craig Breen from Waterford finished fifth overall in a 2016 generation Citroen DS3 WR car. The next round is Rally Sweden, from February 10 to 12.