Portugal WRC: Meeke doubles his lead, Neuville hits trouble
Citroen's Kris Meeke continued to dominate Rally Portugal, winning the three Saturday morning stages of the event.
Photo by: Citroën Communication
The Northern Irishman doubled the lead of 31.9s he had after yesterday over points leader Sebastien Ogier, who holds second.
The reigning champion is closely followed by teammate Andreas Mikkelsen and Dani Sordo, both less than 20 seconds behind.
The Spaniard is now the last remaining Hyundai driver in contention for a podium finish after Thierry Neuville failed to complete the second stage of the day, running out of fuel.
M-Sport's Eric Camilli inherited fifth as a result of the Belgian's and teammate Mads Ostberg's issues, the Norwegian suffering from drive problems.
As such, Ostberg also fell behind Jari-Matti Latvala, whose Friday had been hampered by steering problems, to end up seventh.
Meeke's teammate Stephane Lefebvre retired in the opening stage of the day after hitting a rock and damaging his suspension.
Standings after SS12:
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
Citroen | 2h22m26.4s |
| 2 |
|
Volkswagen | +1m02.9s |
| 3 |
|
Volkswagen | +1m15.7s |
| 4 |
|
Hyundai | +1m20.6s |
| 5 |
|
Ford | +2m42.3s |
| 6 |
|
Volkswagen | +4m24.1s |
| 7 |
|
Ford | +5m52.4s |
| 8 |
|
Skoda | +6m04.8s |
| 9 |
|
Ford | +6m27.2s |
| 10 |
|
Skoda | +7m27.0s |
Kris Meeke
Paul Nagle
Sebastien Ogier
Andreas Mikkelsen
Dani Sordo
Jari-Matti Latvala
Pontus Tidemand
Martin Prokop
Nicolas Fuchs
Fernando MussanoBe part of Motorsport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Honda reveals 2020 World Superbike challenger
Redding: Bautista cost himself 2019 WSBK crown
Espargaro: Aprilia showed podium pace at Sepang
Meeke wins on rally return in Craig Breen’s honour
Meeke could get a career lifeline in form of Pirelli role
Why Tanak's 'head or heart' call will shape WRC 2020
Ostberg gets full WRC2 season with Citroen
Citroen open to making WRC car available to privateers
How Ogier's Citroen dream died
McLaughlin issues statement following St. Pete disqualification
Full-time IndyCar move “an option” says supersub Pourchaire
When Senna broke his F1 duck by walking on water
Josh Berry "not necessarily panicked" over tough 2024 season
The eight minutes of madness that saw Ogier strike in Croatia
How Rovanpera showed his class above his WRC rivals in Kenya
How a new 'old' challenge is capturing the spirit of British rallying lore
How Lappi survived Swedish snow carnage to snap his lengthy WRC drought
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments