Wales set for Irish invasion
The final round of the 2015 World Rally Championship will see strong representation from over a dozen Irish competitors as they tackle Wales Rally GB this weekend.
Killarney’s Paul Nagle will parter Kris Meeke in their factory Citroen DS3 World Rally Car. Having endured a testing season which has seen good results tempered with frustrating retirements, the pair will be looking to end their season on a high in the Welsh forests. While Nagle will be making his fifth appearance on Wales Rally GB, his fellow county men Rob Duggan and Ger Conway will be making their world championship debut. Duggan and Conway recently won the Carryduff Forklifts R2 Championship giving them a prize drive on the World Rally Championship finale in an R3 Citroen DS3. Duggan is also a nominee for Motorsport Ireland Young Rally Driver of the Year and will face the interview panel just two days after returning from Wales.
Craig Bree, World Rally Championship
Monaghan brothers, Josh and Sam Moffett are entered at numbers 22 and 23 respectively. Josh, who has just been crowned Irish Forestry Rally Champion arrives to Wales on the crest of a wave and there is every chance he and co-driver John Rowan could crack the top 10 come Sunday evening. Sam will be partnered by Karl Atkinson for the 19 stage event and both brothers will drive identical Ford Fiesta World Rally Cars. Outgoing Motorsport Ireland Young Rally Driver of the Year Dean Raftery will be another looking to end his season on a positive note. The Citroen driver will benefit from the guidance on the experienced Arthur Kierans in the passenger seat and the Galway driver is well used to the Welsh forests having campaigned successfully in the British Rally Championship for the past number of seasons.
Motorsport Ireland Young Rally Driver of the Year Dean Raftery
Marty McCormack and James O’Reilly form yet another cross border pairing and will start at number 75 in their Skoda Fabia S2000 and will compete in the WRC2 category, as will Craig Breen. Breen, who has shown impressive pace in his Peugeot 208 T16 this season has endured a number of mechanical maladies throughout the season but has tested extensively ahead of this weekend and with the works Skoda team electing to miss Wales, Breen must be one of the favourites to take WRC2 honours in the valleys. Another crew to make their Welsh debut will be Irish ex pats, Pauric Duffy and Kevin Glynn. The pair regularly return home from Australia to compete in Irish events but have chosen to round out their season in Wales in their Ford Fiesta R5.