Kris Meeke stamps his authority on the Rally of Scotland

Meeke 36 Kris Meeke stamps his authority on the Rally of Scotland

The 33km Loch Ard stage was the most eagerly-anticipated challenge confronting the competitors on the inaugural RACMSA Rally of Scotland and Kris Meeke delivered a champion’s performance through the forest. Amid some of the most spectacular and dramatic scenery in Britain, the Peugeot UK driver gave his car its head and revelled in the ‘monster’ stage.

“That was absolutely fantastic, I have to say that all the rallies I’ve done around the world this was the best,” said Meeke. “The crests and everything make this a pleasure to drive, and we managed to get another eight seconds or so on Guy so it’s all good.”

Meeke’s team boss, Mark van Dalen of the Kronos team, was full of praise for his performance. “Kris drove perfectly,” he said. “Everybody could see on the live TV that he did a fantastic job as he has all year with the Peugeot. I think it’s going to rain again today and there is a long way to go but we are happy at this stage.”

Wilks knew that he had not done enough to stem the tide against Meeke. “It was a long stage, a big challenge and we have to get to the finish so we backed off and tried to keep it in the middle and keep it down a bit,” he said.

David Bogie kept up his strong pace to bring pressure on Jonathan Greer for fourth place behind Alister McRae, while Martin Kangur’s phenomenal rally came to an end with an ‘off’ in his 2WD Honda, handing seventh place to Kaspar Koitla’s similar car, after he got past Irishman Eamonn Boland’s 4WD turbocharged Subaru.

Results after SS10:

1 Meeke (GB) –Peugeot – 1hr 34m 55.1s
2 Wilks (GB) – Skoda – +27.9s
3 McRae (GB) – Proton - +2m 30.6s
4 Greer (GB) – Ralliart - +5m 23.8s
5 Bogie (GB) – Ralliart - +5m 38.1s
6 Armstrong (GB) – Subaru - +7m 24.5s
7 Koitla (EST) – Honda - +12m 31.3s
8 Boland (IRL) – Ralliart - +13m 12.9s

For further information visit www.rally-irc.com