Germany [J] - 11-13 Aug 06

Posted: August 14, 2006 7:46 PM

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Gareth MacHale/Paul Nagle an excellent tenth overall in Germany
Sanyo Mac Hale Team drivers Gareth MacHale and Paul Nagle finished an impressive tenth on the Rallye Deutschland after a difficult and challenging first visit to the WRC event.

Today's final leg comprised just four stages covering a total 68.19km over narrow roads in the Saarland region of south-west Germany. Although it was overcast throughout, there were only a few drops of rain and BF Goodrich's soft compound slick tyres provided the safe choice for Gareth and co-driver Paul although a wet start to stage eighteen proved a real test of concentration for the Irish crew.

Gareth in the Sanyo Air Conditioners Ford Focus started the final leg of the event placed eleventh overall with the top ten firmly in their sights and the opportunity of a strong finish on another WRC event in their campaign as Ireland's world championship crew.

"Tenth is a good, solid finish and after a difficult rally I have to be happy with that," said Gareth at the finish. "We are the first non-factory supported Ford home and in the top ten. This is a very difficult rally, even more challenging than Mexico or Argentina the changes of surface and the unpredictable weather conditions meant I had to keep my concentration at all times there was no opportunity to let up" he added.

The world rally circus travels to Finland for the tenth round of the championship that starts on Friday, meanwhile the Mac Hale team mechanics set about preparing Gareth's Ford Focus for the long trip east to Rally Japan that takes place over the first weekend in September. The Japanese event will give Gareth an opportunity to experience one of the more recent additions to the calendar and challenge for more valuable driver championship points.

News of the top eight
Sébastien Loeb (Citroen) claimed his sixth victory of the year, leading home team-mate Dani Sordo by 33.8sec. The Frenchman became the first driver to win a full championship event for five consecutive seasons and moved level with Carlos Sainz at the top of the WRC win list with 26 victories. Toni Gardemeister (Citroen) launched a determined challenge to catch Grönholm, winning three stages, but the Ford driver controlled his pace to maintain third. Austria's Manfred Stohl (Peugeot) took fifth while Andreas Aigner (Skoda) claimed his first ever driver points in sixth, despite going off 3km before the end of the last stage.

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Kris Meeke / Glenn Patterson take a JWRC win in Germany

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www.wrc.com - World Rally Championship Offical Site

Photos:
rallyimage.com - Eymard Brennan Photography

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PRE EVENT NEWS

• Meeke ready to lead the way in Germany
• Entry list on line
• Irish Entries

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09/08/06
Meeke ready to lead the way in Germany
Having shown devastating pace earlier in this year’s FIA Junior World Rally Championship, Northern Irish driver Kris Meeke will aim to turn that promise into points when he steps aboard his PH Sport-run Citroen C2 Super 1600 in Germany for the OMV ADAC Rallye Deutschland next week.

Rallye Deutschland, which starts from Trier on Thursday evening and finishes on Sunday, will be 26-year-old Meeke’s third outing of the season, having contested Rally Catalunya and the Tour de Corse in the spring. On those two asphalt outings, Meeke and co-driver Glenn Patterson were comfortably the fastest pairing in the World Rally Championship’s feeder category, setting fastest times on 19 of the 23 special stages they competed on. Meeke, a former British Junior Rally Champion, led both rallies before slipping out of contention. He collided with another competing car, which was parked in the middle of the road in a blind corner in Spain and retired with an engine fault on the French island.

“We took six points in Spain, which was a good recovery,” said Meeke, “but from here on we have to be looking for big points. I’m feeling happy and confident going into Germany. I’m totally focused on that event. It’s a rally I really enjoy. I’ve got great memories from last season, when we had a massive battle with Dani Sordo. There was six seconds between us going into the final couple of stages; we lost out because of a puncture. When you’re in those kind of really intense fights, there’s nothing better.”

Meeke hasn’t tasted JWRC competition since April and is raring to get back behind the wheel. He added: “I’ve had a lot of seat time in the months that I’ve been away from competition. I did Rally Poland in a Citroen C2 R2, then two days of testing in Germany; a week in Finland and some more testing in the Xsara WRC. In one week, we did about 1,000 kilometres, which is fantastic. At the same time, however, there’s nothing like competition – and that’s what I can’t wait to get back in to.”

Meeke is well aware of the tricky conditions awaiting him and rest of the crews on next week’s German World Rally Championship round. The weather in the Trier region is notoriously fickle. This, combined with some of the most testing road conditions in the series, makes Rallye Deutschland major challenge.

“It was damp early on during the rally last year,” said Meeke. “The constant surface changes make this a difficult enough event, but the damp weather just exacerbated the lack of grip in places. For me, this rally is just as complex as Monte Carlo. Look at Marcus Gronholm, he’s a double world champion, but the first corner of the rally caught him out last year. One of the hardest parts of the rally comes in the reading of these surface changes. On one corner, you can have really good grip on great asphalt, then there’ll be gravel in the next corner and broken concrete on the next – and that’s all within 500 metres. Running through the military testing grounds in Baumholder one day and the Mosel vineyards the next make this a unique event. For me, it’s a fantastic challenge. I know what I want from this event and I’m determined to get it. All we need is a bit of luck and we’ll be there. I have a fantastic car and team around me and I’m ready to show what we can do.”

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16/07/06
ITC regular Gareth Jones with David Moynihan, joins Gareth MacHale/Paul Nagle and Kris Meeke/Glenn Patterson in Germany.

Irish Entries:
20 Gareth Mac Hale / Paul Nagle (Ford Focus WRC)
32 Kris Meeke / Glenn Patterson (Citroën C2 Super 1600)
62 Gareth Jones / David Moynihan (Subaru Impreza WRC)

Also entered is Erik Wevers in the Toyota Corolla WRC he used on the Cork 20 last year.

Full Entry List and Details on:

Rally Germany

• 2006 World Rally Championship