KRIS MEEKE & PAUL NAGLE HEAD FOR BELGIUM

Peugeot UK’s 2009 IRC Champion Kris Meeke and co-driver Paul Nagle return to mainland Europe this week for the Geko Ypres Rally.

After the disappointment of a non-finish in the last rally in Sardinia, Kris and Paul will be aiming for a strong result on this rally to get their championship defence back on track.

Last year saw a titanic battle between Kris and his then Peugeot team mate Freddy Loix which ended with Kris taking the rally win by 20.4 seconds from Jan Kopecky, after Loix picked up a puncture.

With one rally win to their credit already and seven rallies remaining, including Ypres, Kris and Paul can still retain their title as only the scores from seven rallies count towards the championship.

The Geko Ypres Rally kicks off on Friday 25th June and finishes on Saturday evening 26th June. As last year’s rally, it will be contested over nineteen stages of which three will be totally new stages for this year.

Peugeot Sport’s Le Mans driver Stéphane Sarrazin will also be returning to the Intercontinental Rally Challenge at Ypres to drive a Peugeot 207 S2000 prepared by the French PH Sport team. Stéphane, who has a reputation as a tarmac specialist, will have logistical support from Kronos Racing and will be aiming to better his previous best IRC finish of 3rd in the Monte Carlo rally in 2009.

A total of 103 cars are entered for this year’s rally including twenty five S2000 cars from four different manufacturers – Peugeot (11), Skoda (8), Proton (3) and Ford (3).