It was a proud day for motorsport communities across Britain and Ireland as Northern Ireland’s Kris Meeke and Irishman Paul Nagle secure victory on the XION Rally Argentina, round four of the FIA World Rally Championship. Nagle is the first Irish co-driver to secure a victory since Ronan McNamee in 1989 while Meeke was the first Briton to secure victory in the series since Colin McRae won the 2002 Safari Rally.
Indeed it was that very man that the Northern Irishman dedicated his Argentine win to, with an emotional Meeke paying tribute to McRae .
“What can I say? It’s been a long road… and the man who did most is not here,” said Meeke ” “Everything was fine until we got the end of the last stage. Once we had crossed the line, I was overcome with emotions. It’ll take time for it to really sink in. I didn’t start the rally aiming to fight for the win. I just wanted to have an error-free rally. “
The Briton was pushed all the way by his Citroen team-mate Mads Ostberg. The Norwegian had to overcome engine issues early in the event while also battling illness on his way to second place.
“It’s a fantastic result for the whole team, which is obviously very encouraging for the rallies to come.” said Ostberg, “We came hoping to fight for place on the podium, but finishing with the two DS 3 WRC first and second is a great performance. The DS brand has given us a huge amount of support, so I’m pleased we have been able to bring home a result like this!”
The Citroen Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team move into second place in the manufacturers championship thanks to this result.
