RALI Terras D’Aboboreira winner Kris Meeke paid a heartfelt thanks to his Hyundai Team Portugal mechanics after they miraculously repaired his car following an accident on the shakedown stage.
Meeke ended the third round of the Portuguese Rally Championship 11.1 seconds up on the Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 of France’s Pierre Louis-Loubet, and a further 13.2 seconds to the good over Yohan Rossel (Citroen C3 Rally2), both of whom entered as a warm-up for next month’s Rally de Portugal.
It was Meeke’s third consecutive victory in the competition at the controls of his i20 N Rally2, and follows on from his success at February’s Rali Serras de Fafe and March’s Rallye Casinos do Algarve.
The two-day event did not get off to the best of starts for the 44-year-old, however, as he crashed his car on Friday morning’s short ‘Fatacil’ shakedown test.
On a fast downhill section, he carried just a little too much speed into a tightening left-hander and hit a rock with the right rear wheel.
The impact sent the car across the mountain road and into a 360-degree roll before it dropped off the edge and into some dense shrubbery where it rolled two more times before coming to a stop.
With the damage largely superficial – and the safety cell that protects the driver and co-driver intact – mechanics fixed the car, ensuring he could start of the gravel fixture with Stuart Loudon.
Meeke went on to record quickest times on each of the nine special stages, including the end-of-rally ‘Power Stage’, to cap off one of the most unforgettable weekends in his motorsport career.
“What a way to win a rally,” beamed Meeke at the finish.
“Some people say that I am a trees or trophies kind of driver but this weekend I was trees and trophies, so honestly, I couldn’t be happier.
“I am really happy with the result and what a beautiful region to drive a rally car – I really enjoyed it. I have had quite a few emotions in my career so maybe I am immune to it [setbacks].
“I am sorry for the team as they had to repair the car, so a big thanks to them to get it ready again,” he added.
“The last stage was quite tricky. To run over these roads for a third time given they are quite soft, it created so many ruts and pulled up so many big stones, so we really had to take care to finish.”
Meanwhile, Desi Henry survived a late mechanical scare with his Citroen C3 Rally2 on Saturday’s Maiden City Stages to win the closed-road event from the Volkswagen Polo R5 of Callum Devine.
Not long after the start of the sixth and final stage Henry’s car developed a misfire but rather than backing off, he decided to go on the attack to chalk up his first outright victory in more than a year.
Reigning Northern Ireland Rally Champion Jonathan Greer (Citroen C3 Rally2) rounded out the podium places to make it a hat-trick of maximum scores so far this season as Henry and Devine decided against registering to score points on the Maiden City Motor Club showpiece.