Meeke masters SS10

Fridão, the longest stage of the day, is known for its wide, fast and flowing roads, but there are plenty of corners amongst trees which are very close to the road. The roads are smooth, with a fine layer of gravel on top, but there are also short sections of asphalt and cobbles.

Bertelli suffered very early on in this stage, stopping 5km in and not moving again. We will report on this when we get more news in, but he’s had a very difficult rally so far with a number of punctures and a lack of rhythm.

Ogier began his big push here, throwing it down on these fast stages and setting incredibly fast split times. But the quickest splits belong to Kris Meeke, who is determined to not only keep his second place, but to challenge Latvala for first position. At the first split, Meeke was 1.2 up on Ogier, and by the second split, he’d added another 0.6 to that figure. By the third split, Meeke had dropped down to a 1.3 lead, maintaining the same time at the fourth and fifth split, and finishing 2.4 seconds ahead of the World Champion.

Meeke and Ogier took three soft compound tyres, and three hard compounds out with them this morning – clearly, such strong tyre choices are reflected in these incredibly quick split times. Ogier stepped out of his car to take a look at his own tyres, possibly concerned by a lack of grip. “The tyres were okay, but now there’s only one car in front of us [with Bertelli stopped, this alters his road position for the later stages]. I’m very happy with my pace.”

Mads Ostberg has been having some trouble finding a rhythm today. “Difficult stage. I tried my best, my time isn’t so good.” said Ostberg at the stage end. “I don’t like it, I understand why though. Struggling to find the feeling.” Hopefully he’ll be able to replicate the same rhythm that he had on yesterday’s stages, and pick up his pace to set some strong times this afternoon. After Sordo’s time on this stage, Ostberg is just 0.3 seconds behind the Hyundai Motorsport driver, and he will be determined to push hard on the afternoon loop to finish the day in sixth place.

Mikkelsen, on soft tyres all around, set a good stage time here and was clearly hoping to close that gap between himself and Kris Meeke. That wasn’t to be; Meeke set the fastest time on this stage, 9 seconds quicker than the VW driver, and has consolidated his second place now with a good 9.2 second gap ahead of Mikkelsen.

“Looks like the tyres were fine.” said Mikkelsen. “It was a good stage time, another long afternoon loop. Just keep on going.” Meeke spoke about the tyre game at the stage end. “We’re on different tyres. [him and Mikkelsen]. The road’s cleaning in there, i’m impressed with Ogier’s time. That’s the game.” He is now starting to put pressure on the rally leader, Jari-Matti Latvala, and has stopped thinking about second place – now, Meeke is after Latvala’s position.

Dani Sordo came to the end of Stage 10 with a cracked windshield, and seems to be struggling to get the feeling with his i20. “I’m okay, a little like the stage before, difficult to drive.” said Sordo. “More slippery today, yesterday was more gravelly.”

Latvala lost 5.1 seconds in that stage to Meeke, and now the overall difference is just 6.1 seconds. The VW driver knows he has a battle on his hands, and certainly regrets that he lost some time on the previous stage. “The fight is good, it was a 37km stage. I’m happy with that. I had to be careful after the stage with rocks.” said Latvala.

“I had a feeling that I had a flat, and drove too carefully after that. I know why I lost the time, but the fight is on.”

Clearly the tale of Rally Portugal is no longer about the battle between Meeke and Mikkelsen, but absolutely about the fight between Meeke and Latvala. Provided that Latvala can push hard and utilise his road position on this afternoon’s repeat loop, he can hope to hold on to his lead going into tomorrow. But that all depends on Meeke’s performance on the final three stages of the day, and whether the Dungannon driver has any issues.

Tyr