RALLY PORTUGAL 2014
Killarney co-driver Paul Nagle resumes his World Rally Championship campaign alongside his Citroen Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team teamamte Kris Meeke on this weekend’s Rally de Portugal.
Paul has competed on this rally once before alongside Dublin driver Gareth MacHale. They finished 13th in 2007. Although Meeke has already taken part in 43 World Championship events, he will be making his first appearance at Rally de Portugal. Like in Sweden and Mexico , earlier in the season , the Northern Irishman is aiming to add to his experience.
“Yet more new stages for me!” said Kris. “It looks like it will be a very interesting rally. After Mexico, driving the Citroën DS3 WRC in testing helped to boost my confidence. At sea level, the car has significantly more power and there is a lot more grip on this type of road surface.”
Quick in Mexico, Meeke and Nagle showed they were capable of matching the pace of the leaders on gravel: “After speaking with the team, I know that this rally can be particularly complicated. For my first appearance here, it won’t be easy. I feel a little bit frustrated after Mexico. I need to rack up more miles in the car and that will be my main objective in Portugal. If I can keep out of trouble then inevitably, the result will look after itself. What I need is to be consistent. Our last test sessions went really very well and I felt very comfortable in the Citroën DS3 WRC.”
They will start number seven on the road in line with their current World Rally Championship position. The event gets underway on Thursday evening with a super special in Lisbon ahead of three more days of competition near The Algarve.
