“I said to Paul [Nagle – my co-driver], that’s the speed we have to drive at to compete with the Volkswagens. What a buzz! What a nice stage,” Meeke told the official WRC site after completing the final proper test of the day just 1.5 seconds off Latvala.
Latvala was quickest in SS5 and SS6 – and second in SS4 – to haul himself up from fifth and ahead of team-mate Sebastien Ogier.
“A really good stage for us, really enjoyed it,” Latvala remarked after Newry 2. “In a couple of places it was really slippery where the surface was compacted and the tyre didn’t work so well, but overall very happy with the day so far.”
Ogier meanwhile is now third, and with the stages having been swept clean this morning, was right on the pace, quickest again in Hydes Creek, before going second in SS5 and SS6. He concludes the loop 0.5 seconds off Latvala.
“I am really happy. We are not so far from the lead tonight so we can be proud of what we have done today,” noted the Frenchman. “The second loop was better than the first but I’m overall I’m happy.”
Behind, Volkswagen Motorsport II pilot Andreas Mikkelsen and M-Sport’s Mikko Hirvonen have both slipped back and are now fourth and fifth, around 2.5 seconds off Ogier and split by just 0.4 seconds.
Hayden Paddon completes the top six and is the lead Hyundai after Thierry Neuville hit a stone near the start of SS5 and broke the rear suspension. He lost almost 2 minutes as a result and tumbled down from P6 to P13. He recovered to tenth after SS6.
Mads Ostberg is Paddon’s nearest challenger, 3.2 seconds back, but he again struggled this afternoon, especially relative to the times posted by team-mate Meeke in the sister Citroen DS3 WRC.
Former F1 driver Robert Kubica holds eighth, with fellow M-Sport man Elfyn Evans now up to ninth, complaining that “it is just not happening”.
After Neuville in tenth, Chris Atkinson is one spot back on his first WRC outing since Mexico. He reported a “strange feeling in the rear” after SS6.
In WRC2, Yazeed Al-Rajhi continues to lead (and is 12th overall), now 9.4 seconds up on Nasser Al-Attiyah. Al-Attiyah has closed to less than a second after SS4 and SS5, but lost time in SS6 with a possible suspension issue. Jari Ketomaa remains third.
The opening leg now concludes with two runs through the 1.56 km Hyundai Super Special Stage.