A SURE-FOOTED performance by Kris Meeke secured him a first victory of the year on Tarmac in the Portuguese Rally Championship and – more importantly – maximum drivers’ points.
Meeke was a level above over the two legs of Rali da Agua – the penultimate round of the national, dual surface series – as he recorded scratch times on eight of the nine tests to win by 41 seconds.
It was the perfect tonic for the Team Hyundai Portugal pilot following consecutive finishes outside the top five places at June’s Rali de Castelo Branco due to his car developing throttle failure three stages from the end, and last month’s Rali Vinho da Madeira owing to a ten-minute time penalty.
That meant the 44-year-old trailed the Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 of Armindo Araujo – the only other person who has a mathematical chance of being crowned champion – by seven points pre-Rali da Agua.
Quickest on shakedown alongside Stuart Loudon in their Hyundai i20 N Rally2, that set the tone for the penultimate round of the competition.
After Friday’s three speed tests that covered 17.35-miles, he managed to carve out a nine second buffer and continued to press home his advantage the next day on roads that appeared to suit the former World Rally Championship winner’s style.
After five stages, Meeke and his Portuguese rival were separated by 11 seconds and in an attempt to hang on to the leader’s coat-tails, Araujo decided to go on the offensive through the 7.6-miles of ‘Chaves’.
However, on a sweeping right-hander, he lost the nose of his Michelin-shod supermini to understeer before contact with a stone bank at the side of the road sent it into a roll and onto its side.
With his main challenger out of the equation and the pressure off his shoulders, Meeke went on to win to successfully defend his Rali da Agua crown, and lead home team-mate Ricardo Teodosio in the process to secure the best result of the season so far for the Hyundai Team Portugal squad.
“It was a fantastic rally – everything went perfectly – and during the two days I was able to enjoy not only driving the Hyundai i20 N Rally2, but also the beauty of the stages in this region,” he said.
“From a personal point of view, I really enjoyed it. The weather was incredible and a big contrast to last year when there was heavy rain.
“The roads were really enjoyable to drive and we had a big battle with Armindo – he was really strong all weekend so big credit to him.
“Unfortunately, he made a mistake, but that is rallying. He has had a very consistent season up until now,” he added.
“Of course, I am very happy to be back in first place in the championship and now we are going to do our very best in the last round, with the aim of finishing the season on top and in first place.”
