Peugeot UK’s Kris Meeke is fired and ready to secure a second
win in the fourth round of the IRC!
The Sata Rally Azores kicked off with a nail-biting
shakedown which saw Kris and his co-driver Paul Nagle finish the
first day just two-tenths of a second off the lead.
The duo got off to a great start in their 207 Super 2000,
setting the second fastest time of 1 minute 58.7 seconds in the
morning shakedown, just three-tenths of a second after Peugeot’s
Nicolas Vouilloz.
Then, starting seventh on the road in the first of 18
tough gravel stages, Kris took on Nicolas once more in a 1.7km
special stage race against the clock. It was Kris who crossed the
line first, just one-tenth of a second ahead of the
Frenchman.
Peugeot dominated the opening stage of the fourth round, landing
the top three places on the end of the first day. The action
continues with nine timed stages today and ends on Saturday evening
after a final leg of eight special stages.
Having won the Brazilian round of the IRC in March, being faced
with another gravel round should enable Kris and Paul to exploit
their obvious speed on this type of surface. Yet Kris admits he’s
expecting the route to throw up some tricky obstacles.
He says: ‘It’s a lot narrower here; you’re travelling down some
very narrow lanes covered in thick gravel, so any little mistake
could cost you dear. Road position will play a big part.’
Watch our vodcast with Kris and Paul.
Back to
news homepage.
