Peugeot Accident Assistance

Victory for Kris and Peugeot at Azores Rally

Victory for Kris and Peugeot at Azores Rally

Kris storms to victory despite the awful weather

The driving rain and strong winds proved no obstacle to Peugeot UK’s Kris Meeke as he steered his way to a second IRC victory at the Sata Rally Azores.

Having dominated the first 10 stages of the rally, Kris and his co-driver Paul Nagle were first on the road in their 207 Super 2000. Despite the treacherous weather conditions – Kris said the cobbled surface in the stage was “like driving on the slippery roads of Monte Carlo” – they powered their way to yet another fastest stage time.

After setting the fastest time on the first three stages of the morning, no-one could catch up with Kris’s lead of 1 minute 59 seconds. A battle was instead raging behind for second place between Nicolas Vouilloz and Jan Kopecky, eventually won by Skoda Fabia’s Kopecky.

Despite the weather improving during the day, as the cars set off for the second run through stage 17, they were told the final stage had been cancelled as the road was heavily waterlogged. So Kris only had one stage between him and his second IRC victory and he powered ahead to win with a fantastic 53.1 second margin.

“It’s been a difficult weekend but an incredible result,” said Kris. “This rally was a completely different challenge to what we had in Brazil, and to be able to drive at the front was very satisfying when the conditions were so tricky. But I rate this one above Brazil; everyone was here from the Skodas, Volkwagen and it was fantastic.”

With two wins now behind them, Kris and Paul are now in the overall championship points lead. “We’re sitting pretty good at the moment, but it’s still a long way to go to the championship,” he says.

Overall result  

1st	Peugeot 207 S2000: Kris Meeke – 2h 36m 48.3s
2nd	Skoda Fabia S2000: Jan Kopecky +53.1s
3rd	Peugeot 207 S2000: Nicolas Vouilloz +1m 4.8s
4th	Peugeot 207 S2000: Freddy Loix +2m 15.2s

Watch our vodcast with Kris and Paul.

Back to news homepage.