Peugeot Accident Assistance

Kris Meeke leads in Azores for Peugeot

Kris powers ahead to take the lead

Peugeot UK driver Kris Meeke has stormed to a commanding lead at the end of the first full day of the Sata Rally Azores.

Kris and his co-driver Paul Nagle passed overnight leader Freddy Loix to set consistent times through the day in their 207 Super 2000. Loix picked up a puncture in the opening test and by the end of stage two, Kris had moved into the lead over Juho Hanninen.

In the fourth stage at the end of the morning, Kris had a lucky escape – just as they approached the stage, the back rear right wheel came away from the car. “On the second last corner there was a big stone in the grass which we didn’t see in the recce,” he explained. “Luckily it damaged the rim and not the suspension, but it shows you how simply things like that can happen.”

Kris was quickest across a total of six stages on the opening day, and holds a lead of 40.2 of a second. “It’s been an excellent day,” he said. He starts first on the road today in the final leg of eight special stages.

The technically challenging surfaces of volcanic rock, loose gravel and asphalt have caused plenty of incident so far in the rally, with a total of 13 cars of the 50 starters retiring due to either accidents or mechanical strain.

Results so far:

1st:	Kris Meeke
2nd:	Nicolas Vouillioz
3rd:	Jan Kopecky

Watch our vodcast with Kris and Paul.

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