Meeke triumphs again!
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Meeke: "This rally has everything!"
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Meeke triumphs again!
Peugeot UK driver Kris Meeke delivered a string of fastest stage times on the closing day of the Sata Rallye Acores, round four of the 2009 Intercontinental Rally Challenge, to take victory and the overall championship points lead. ...
Over the course of seven stages, the 29-year-old Ulsterman, who took the lead on SS2 yesterday morning, resisted a strong performance from Czech ace Jan Kopecky in his Skoda Fabia while remaining largely untroubled by his championship rivals.
In wet and blustery conditions on the island of Sao Miguel, set in the heart of the Azores achipelago some 1500km off the Portuguese coast in the Atlantic Ocean, the 37 cars to have survived the opening day’s action set out westward for a gruelling day on the extremely challenging gravel stages. Meeke held an overnight lead of 40 seconds from defending champion Nicolas Vouilloz in a similar Peugeot 207, stretching his advantage through the first stage of the day while the Frenchman came under attack from a flying Kopecky.
Behind the three leaders, young Finnish star Anton Alen gamely carried the hopes of the Abarth squad with a fine performance in his Grande Punto in fourth place after his team mate Giandomenico Basso was forced out with suspension damage on the second stage of the day. Alen enjoyed a day-long battle for fourth place with former WRC frontrunner Freddy Loix in another Peugeot 207, but spun on the penultimate stage and dropped 12 minutes to finish 18th after encountering a problem in getting the Grande Punto going again.
Local hero Fernando Peres powered to fifth in his Group N Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, ahead of the similar car of IRC regular Franz Wittmann of Austria. The battle for the final two points positions was between Conrad Rautenbach, making his IRC debut in another Peugeot 207, and another Portuguese specialist in a Mitsubishi, Ricardo Moura.
The local man managed to overhaul the South African shortly after the service halt but Rautenbach came back to clinch seventh place on the final few stages. In the IRC 2WD Cup, Frenchman Denis Millet took a comfortable victory in his new Peugeot 207 RC Rallye, which features an innovative 1600cc turbocharged engine, from Italy's Manuel Villa in his Fiat Punto Super 1600.
The gruelling surface and ever-changing weather conditions conspired to force a total of 17 cars into retirement from the 50 starters. Principal among these was the flying Finn Juho Hanninen who led Skoda's early charge on the opening day, only to twice come to grief on the Pinhal da Paz stage, wrecking his wheel against some rocks on SS4 before suffering a bigger accident on the field's return for stage 10 yesterday.

Drivers Standings
1.     Kris Meeke (GB)      20
2.     Freddy Loix (B)     18
3.     Nicolas Vouilloz (F)     14
4.     Jan Kopecky (CZ)     13
5.     Giandomenico Basso (I)     10

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After leg one: Meeke leads in Azores
Peugeot UK driver Kris Meeke (pictured) has charged to a commanding lead at the end of the first full day´s running on the Sata Rallye Acores. In the course of nine stages, the 29-year-old Ulsterman passed overnight leader Freddy Loix´s similar Peugeot 207 S2000 and survived a wheel-wrecking rock on SS4 to set consistent times through the day to keep ahead of his title rivals. ...
Meeke held good to his pre-event strategy of not being lured into over-stressing himself or his car when rivals not contesting the full 11-round IRC set impressive times. Nevertheless he was able to take and retain the overall lead from Loix, the winner of last night's opening superspecial, before building a comfortable 30 second cushion over defending champion Nicolas Vouilloz, lying second at the end of the day in another Peugeot 207.
The first two stages of the day were a battle between Meeke and the Skoda Fabia of Finnish gravel ace Juho Hanninen, but the Finn dropped eleven and a half minutes on SS4 4, Pinhal da Paz, after damaging his wheels and suspension on the same rocks that Meeke had clipped. On the day's final stage, the second run through Pinhal da Paz, Hanninen's hopes of recovering the lost time were dashed in a stage-stopping shunt that ended his rally in dramatic style.
The second factory Skoda Fabia, driven by Czech asphalt ace Jan Kopecky, responded with a fastest time on SS5 in a total of five top three stage times through the day to end up third at the overnight halt in host town Ponta Delgada. Behind him the first of the Abarth Grande Punto S2000 runners, Finland's Anton Alen, made the best of his machinery with some brave performances to climb from eighth to fourth, keeping clear of Loix and local hero Fernando Peres in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX.
Starting the final day in seventh place will be Alen's Italian team mate Giandomenico Basso. The Italian precedes Conrad Rautenbach who struggled with lack of experience on his first Super 2000 class outing in eighth at the wheel of his Peugeot 207. The top 10 is rounded out by 2008 Rallye Azores winner Bruno Magalhães in another Peugeot 207, who earlier suffered transmission problems, and the Mitsubishi Lancer of Austrian Franz Wittmann.
The technically challeging surfaces of volcanic rock, loose gravel and asphalt have caused plenty of incident, and a total of 13 cars from the 50 starters have retired due to either accidents or mechanical strain.
In the IRC 2WD Cup, Frenchman Denis Millet leads the way in his Peugeot 207 RC Rallye from Italy's Manuel Villa in his Fiat Punto S1600. 

Meeke: "This rally has everything!"
Peugeot UK driver Kris Meeke (pictured)has described the Sata Rally Azores as "the most varied event I have ever competed on" after four stages. The Irishman currently leads by 13.2 seconds from Peugeot Belgium driver Nicolas Vouilloz, the reigning IRC champion ... 
"This rally really has a bit of everything; it's so so tricky," said Meeke. "In just one stage we've had bits of Rally Sardinia, Rally New Zealand: it's just like nowhere else. You have to keep constantly alert as there are so many things to catch you out. I'm only going at 95% and not taking any risks. I'd like to think I have a little bit of speed left in reserve, but I really wouldn't want to feel I had to use it!"
Meeke had a lucky escape on the final stage when he clipped a rock and damaged a wheel on the very last corner. With only a few metres of the stage remaining, the Peugeot UK crew were able to get to the end and change the wheel after the finish.
Skoda driver Juho Hanninen was not so lucky. He hit a rock and damaged his wheel so badly that he lost 10 minutes on SS4. The good news is that he was able to make it back to service in the end, where the Skoda mechanics repaired the wheel and allowed him to continue.
Local hero Bruno Magalhaes is currently third in his Peugeot Portugal 207 S2000, but lost time on SS4 when he was held up in the dust of Juho Hanninen.
This has allowed Abarth driver Anton Alen to close right up to him, but the Finn has promised to maintain the same pace this afternoon. "You have to be very careful on this rally," said Alen. "If you take too many risks, you will definitely have a problem."

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Proton team on course for IRC debut
The factory-supported Proton team is still set to compete in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge this season, despite opting against an entry on Sata Rally Azores next month ... 
Although the UK-based Mellors Elliot Motorsport squad never formally committed to the island event, company principal Chris Mellors indicated earlier this season that he wanted his team to begin competing as soon as possible.
It is now likely that the first Proton entry will be on the Belgium Ypres Rally from June 18-20 when at least one Satria Neo S2000 will appear, possibly for British driver Guy Wilks.
Wilks was dominating the second round of the British championship in a Proton recently, before his car caught fire as a result of damage caused by a minor excursion. Although the vehicle was destroyed, MEM has already begun building a replacement.
“In the end the Azores wasn’t practical because we would lose the car for about one month with the time it would take to ship it there and back,” said Mellors. “But we still want to do some IRC events as soon as possible this year and we would like it to be with Guy although we’re also talking to some other drivers about other events.”

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