With Kris starting first on the road on the last day of the rally was always going to be difficult, as he effectively ‘swept’ the stages for the following cars.
The first stage (SS8) saw Kris drop 11 seconds to the fast charging Giandomenico Basso in the Abarth Fiat Grande Punto S2000. The choice of harder tyres against the softer tyres on the Fiat, and the disadvantage of being first on the road were clearly setting up a thrilling final day.
The next stage (SS9) saw Kris drop only 5 seconds to Basso; however, a further 11 seconds were lost on stage (SS10), so Kris’s lead was reduced 22.7 seconds.
Kris fought back on stage (SS11) when he took 12.6 seconds off Basso to increase his lead back up to 35 seconds. He also set the fastest stage time on SS11 to take his tally for the rally to eight fastest times. Kronos team mate Nicolas Vouilloz also moved into second position ahead of Basso by setting the second fastest time, as Basso spun on the stage.
Stage (SS12) saw Basso fight back taking 4 seconds off Kris, but losing 3 seconds to Vouilloz.
The final stage (SS13) saw Kris finish the rally in true style setting joint fastest time with his team mate Nicolas Vouilloz. Basso dropped 16 seconds and finished the rally in third place after a fantastic fight with Kris and later Nicolas.
Kris’s winning margin was 26.2 seconds over team mate Nicolas Vouilloz, who like Kris has bounced back from a disappointing Monte Carlo Rally. Giandomenico Basso was third, 47.9 seconds behind the rally winner.
It has been a very successful rally for Peugeot UK, Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle, who on their way to winning this year’s Rally Internacional de Curitiba set 9 fastest times out of 13 stages and secured Peugeot’s second 2009 IRC win.
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