Kris Meeke’s bid to win the Portuguese Rally Championship took a massive blow after he crashed out from last weekend’s Rali Vinho da Madeira.
Coupled with Brian Hoy for the weekend, Meeke kicked things off with two stage wins on the first pair of stages but it all went wrong on SS3 as he crashed out.
Meeke’s exit promoted two-time European Rally champion Giandomenico Basso into the lead, but it was the Škoda-driving Alexandre Camacho who would ultimately take victory by 20.2 seconds.
José Pedro Fontes was third but took maximum Portuguese championship points, finishing ahead of ERC regular Simone Campedelli and reigning Portuguese champion Armindo Araújo.
With two rounds of the season remaining, Meeke is sixth in the points table with two wins and two retirements.
