Abu Dhabi: Two consecutive fastest times for Kris Meeke promoted the Citroen DS3 driver into the lead of Coates Hire Rally Australia midway through Friday’s opening leg.
However, the task was not easy on the British driver as he was fiercely defending the colours of Citroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT up against team Volkswagen. Meeke was able to tighten his grip on the overall lead of the rally until the seventh and eighth special stages, which dropped him to third and fourth place respectively by the end of the first day.
“I’m happy with my performance,” Meeke said. “We knew the Volkswagens would be really fast and I said to [my co-driver] Paul after SS6, that’s the speed we have to drive at to compete with the top guys. What a nice stage.”
Despite slipping down the leaderboard, Saturday’s start order is based on positions after SS6 so Meeke should benefit on Saturday.
Citroen replaced the rear differential in Meeke’s teammate’s Mads Ostberg’s DS3 at service and the Norwegian had a testing day.
“It’s been a tricky day for sure. We have made a few mistakes and have had some problems with the car too. We have to make some changes and I hope tomorrow [Saturday] will be a better day. We have to focus.”
