Kris Meeke and Jari-Matti Latvala have been forced to retire from the second World Rally Championship event in succession after yet again striking a rock on a bend.The Englishman was enjoying a strong start to the snow event, with victory on stage seven lifting him to second position, just 6.5secs adrift of early leader Sebastien Ogier.
However, on the very next stage during the second run through Rojden, Meeke’s luck would run out after his Abu Dhabi Racing Citroen DS3 struck a rock in a ‘slow corner’ bend to damage the steering.
It comes after Meeke was forced out in an almost identical fashion whilst battling for the lead on the Rallye Monte Carlo. However, while his exit was terminal on that occasion, Meeke stands to re-join the rally with the Rally 2 format.
On what has been a troubled day for several lead drivers, Jari-Matti Latvala was already losing time with ongoing driveshaft issues before broken suspension took him out of contention completely. It comes after he crashed out of the Rallye Monte Carlo.
Meanwhile, Thierry Neuville has transmission woes and Andreas Mikkelsen suffered damage with a moment off the road.
Top 12 overall end day 1 (provisional):
| 1 | 1 |  S. OGIERJ. INGRASSIA |
VOLKSWAGEN POLO WRC | RC1 | 1:03:10.6 |
**:**.* **:**.* |
|
| 2 | 4 |  H. PADDONJ. KENNARD |
HYUNDAI i20 WRC | RC1 | 1:03:37.5 |
00:26.9 00:26.9 |
|
| 3 | 5 |  M. OSTBERGO. FLOENE |
FORD FIESTA RS WRC | RC1 | 1:03:44.2 |
00:33.6 00:06.7 |
|
| 4 | 12 |  O. TANAKR. MOLDER |
FORD FIESTA RS WRC | RC1 | 1:03:45.3 |
00:34.7 00:01.1 |
|
| 5 | 20 |  D. SORDOM. MARTI |
HYUNDAI i20 WRC | RC1 | 1:03:48.8 |
00:38.2 00:03.5 |
|
| 6 | 9 | A. MIKKELSENA. Jaeger SYNNEVA |
VOLKSWAGEN POLO WRC | RC1 | 1:03:52.5 |
00:41.9 00:03.7 |
|
| 7 | 16 | H. SOLBERG I. MINOR |
FORD FIESTA RS WRC | RC1 | 1:04:47.5 |
01:36.9 00:55.0 |
|
| 8 | 15 |  C. BREEN S. MARTIN |
CITROËN DS3 WRC | RC1 | 1:04:49.3 |
01:38.7 00:01.8 |
|
| 9 | 6 | E. CAMILLIN. KLINGER |
FORD FIESTA RS WRC | RC1 | 1:05:54.1 |
02:43.5 01:04.8 |
|
| 10 | 30 |  Y. AL RAJHIM. ORR |
FORD FIESTA RS WRC | RC1 | 1:08:13.4 |
05:02.8 02:19.3 |
|
| 11 | 14 |  K. AL QASSIMIC. PATTERSON |
CITROËN DS3 WRC | RC1 | 1:08:34.3 |
05:23.7 00:20.9 |
|
| 12 | 3 |  T. NEUVILLEN. GILSOUL |
HYUNDAI i20 WRC | RC1 | 1:09:30.9 |
06:20.3 00:56.6 |