Kris Meeke struck a potentially vital blow in his quest for the Portuguese Rally Championship title by taking victory at the head of an i20 N Rally2 on Rally da Água (September 13-14).
Meeke won the first four events of the season, but suffered from problems in the last two events, allowing the championship lead to slip from his grasp.
However, with the fastest time on all three stages completed on the opening day he and co-driver Stuart Loudon put themselves in the lead – albeit with a slender margin over the nearest competitors on the rally, who were also the championship leaders.
The start of the second day of the rally saw the two leading crews take a stage win apiece before a crucial SS6 when Meeke and Loudon’s pursuers rolled out of the rally.
Their exit promoted Ricardo Teodósio and José Teixeira in the second Team Hyundai Portugal i20 N Rally2 to second and presented Meeke and Loudon with a perfect opportunity to take a healthy lead into the final event of the season – next month’s Rallye Vidreiro.
They did exactly that, though without slowing their pace as they won each of the remaining stages, including the Power Stage to secure more points to pad their advantage still further, leaving them in a position where they only need to manage their pace at the season finale to secure the title.
A superb weekend for the British pair was capped off on the Show Event city stage after the end of the rally, where Meeke and Loudon were fastest once more with Teodósio and Teixeira third quickest.
