Citroen Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team consolidates second position .
Kris Meeke and Mads Østberg began the final day of Rally de Portugal looking to collect a large haul of points for the Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team.
Although he fought to stay in the top three, in the end Kris Meeke had to settle for fourth position, securing important points for the championships. He therefore followed up his win in Argentina by racking up another bumper collection of points, enabling him to move into fourth place in the Drivers’ standings, after an intense scrap with Jari-Matti Latvala, Sébastien Ogier and Andreas Mikkelsen that lasted two days.
Eighth at the start of the final day, Mads Østberg produced some fine performances in the closing stages of the rally. He moved ahead of Hayden Paddon after the first pass on Fafe, before taking a hefty 11.2 seconds out of Dani Sordo’s lead on the 32km Vieira do Minho. A final push saw the Norwegian beat the Spaniard again on the Power Stage, but he ended up missing out on sixth place by less than five seconds.
Penalised after retiring on the opening day, Khalid Al Qassimi and Chris Patterson completed their second WRC rally of the season in 22nd place.
Competing in a DS 3 R5, Stéphane Lefebvre and Stéphane Prévot scored twelve points after finishing fourth in the WRC2 category. With three events completed in this championship, they consolidated their fourth position in the standings and moved closers to the leaders.
In the FIA Junior WRC, French ace Quentin Gilbert secured a second successive win. After claiming victory in the opening rally of the season in Monaco, he notched up another win, this time finishing ahead of fellow Frenchman Pierre-Louis Loubet and the Finn Henri Haapamaki.
The World Championship now heads for Alghero where the next round, Rally Italia Sardegna, will be held on 11-14 June.
Yves Matton (Citroën Racing Team Principal): “We can be pleased with the result at the end of this year’s Rally de Portugal. With both our cars finishing in good positions, we have met the targets we set ourselves before the start. There are a number of reasons to be satisfied: the DS 3 WRCs were competitive and we were fighting at the front for more than two days. We have also taken points off our rivals in the Manufacturers’ standings and strengthened our hold on second position. All of which is very encouraging for the rest of the season.”
Mads Østberg: “We showed very strong pace at the end of the rally. We had to push hard to make up the time we had lost to Hayden Paddon and Dani Sordo. I think we performed very well. The aim was to make up nine seconds on the final day and we did more than that. It’s encouraging before we tackle Rally Italia Sardegna, which is one of my favourite events.”
Kris Meeke: “We were competitive throughout the weekend. Usually, this kind of performance would lead to place on the podium. We were fighting at the front right from the word go. At the halfway stage, we were only six seconds behind the leader. Although the result wasn’t quite what we had hoped for, overall it was a very positive weekend and we’re now fourth in the championship. So I’m very happy about that.”
Khalid Al Qassimi: “This new-look Rally de Portugal was very interesting. The stages were really difficult and slippery. After re-joining under Rally 2 rules, we were first on the road and had to carve out the racing line, so we had to take it fairly easily. Congratulations to my team-mates who did well here and have scored important points for the Manufacturers’ championship.”
Stéphane Lefebvre: “Our aim was to avoid making any mistakes, so I’m pleased to get to the end of such a difficult rally without so much as a puncture! This Rally de Portugal was still a very significant learning experience for me. I know I still need to improve the accuracy of my pace notes for this kind of event. It has been a really great experience, which will be important for the rest of my career.”
