It could be argued that Kris Meeke had a better
start number on Friday than WRC series leader Sebastien Ogier who had to run
first on the road doing the sweeping, but what is indisputable is that Kris
made the most of it.
Leaders from the second stage to the end, Kris and Paul Nagle produced a
masterful performance at Rally de Portugal to claim their second World
Championship win. This win, Citroën’s 95th victory in the WRC, was just rewards
for the hard work of the Abu Dhabi Total WRT at its first gravel rally of the
season. Having rejoined this morning under Rally2 regulations, Stéphane
Lefebvre/Gabin Moreau and Khalid Al Qassimi/Chris Patterson made it to the
final podium.
Armed with a healthy
45.3-second advantage, Kris and Paul could afford to manage their lead. Whilst
Andreas Mikkelsen dislodged Sébastien Ogier from second place, the Citroën
Racing crew controlled proceedings at the front. After the first runs on Vieira
do Minho and Fafe, they still held a 35.5s lead. At the end of the Fafe stage,
Kris and Paul could finally relax after claiming their second win in the WRC,
finishing 29.7s ahead of Andreas Mikkelsen!
At the finish Kris said: “First and foremost, I
must thank the entire team and PH Sport for the work done this weekend. We have
secured this win against top-level competition so the performance is especially
important for me as a driver. Before the start, I wasn’t really sure what to
expect. Although I’ve done a lot of testing over the last few weeks, I was
clearly short of competitive mileage. But I managed to drive quickly and led
pretty much from start to finish, managing my lead from Saturday afternoon
onwards.”
“I was cautious again
today, as there were quite a lot of embedded rocks on Fafe, especially on the
second pass. It really is a very special feeling to win here. The atmosphere is
incredible, with some of noisiest and most passionate fans in the world. They
say that getting that first win is a monkey off your back, but it feels like
this one is just as important. There aren’t too many drivers that have won a
WRC rally, but there are even fewer who have won two! We’re now going to try
and build on this result for the next few races and especially in 2017 to be
compete at the highest level!”
He summed up: “It was
nearly a perfect weekend, a text book performance. It’s another step for me as
a driver. This year is all about gathering experience and I couldn’t have done
any more. We’ll use these rallies this year for our benefit and try to mount a
title challenge next year.”
After set-up changes to
his Volkswagen Polo R Andreas Mikkelsen grabbed second from team-mate and
championship leader Sébastien Ogier who suffered two punctures today. With just
one spare wheel in his Polo R, he compromised his pace to ensure he completed
the final Power Stage and reach the Matosinhos finish after topping up one of
the flat tyres with air.
Dani Sordo finished fourth after his hopes of a podium ended yesterday due to stability issues with the rear of his Hyundai i20. Eric Camilli claimed a career-best fifth in only his fifth start in a World Rally Car. The Frenchman had a broken handbrake in his Ford Fiesta RS today and a final stage spin almost allowed Jari-Matti Latvala to catch him. The gap was 5.3sec.
Latvala completed the rally with blistered and bandaged hands after wrestling his Polo R through the twisty mountains on Friday with broken power steering. Mads Østberg was almost three minutes behind in seventh in another Fiesta RS after downshifting problems and a broken driveshaft cost time.
Dani Sordo finished fourth after his hopes of a podium ended yesterday due to stability issues with the rear of his Hyundai i20. Eric Camilli claimed a career-best fifth in only his fifth start in a World Rally Car. The Frenchman had a broken handbrake in his Ford Fiesta RS today and a final stage spin almost allowed Jari-Matti Latvala to catch him. The gap was 5.3sec.
Latvala completed the rally with blistered and bandaged hands after wrestling his Polo R through the twisty mountains on Friday with broken power steering. Mads Østberg was almost three minutes behind in seventh in another Fiesta RS after downshifting problems and a broken driveshaft cost time.
Two WRC wins - here’s
hoping there will be many more for the man from Dungannon.
FINAL OVERALL STANDINGS (UNOFFICIAL)
1, Meeke / Nagle (DS 3 WRC) 3:59:01.0
2, Mikkelsen / Jaeger
(VW Polo-R WRC) +29.7
3, Ogier / Ingrassia (VW
Polo-R WRC) +34.5
4, Sordo / Marti
(Hyundai i20 WRC) +1:37.1
5, Camilli / Veillas
(Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +4:01.6
6, Latvala / Anttila (VW
Polo-R WRC) +4:06.9
7, Ostberg / Floene
(Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +6:53.6
8, Prokop / Tomanek
(Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +10:24.1
9, Tidemand / Andersson
(Skoda Fabia R5) +11:45.2
10, Fuchs / Mussano
(Skoda Fabia R5) +13:14.0
