Kris Meeke ‘a lucky boy’ after victory in Rally Mexico

A case of third time lucky and with it the luck of the Irish as Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle took their Citroen C3 WRC to victory in Rally Mexico, round three of the World Rally Championship. 

On the back of disappointing performances on the opening rounds, they seemed certain to take victory until a drama-filled final stage where they went off the road. However, they had enough of a cushion to claim the spoils, finishing 13.8 seconds ahead of the Ford Fiesta WRC of Sebastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia.

Following the street stages in Mexico City, the rally organisers lost two of Friday’s gravel stages when the convoy of trucks transporting the rally cars was held up for several hours by a road traffic accident unrelated to the rally. When the action got underway Meeke won the famous El Chocolate stage (SS4) — the longest of the rally at 54.9km. That promoted him into the lead and he ended the day 20.9 seconds ahead of Ogier. On Saturday’s second leg, Meeke and co-driver Paul Nagle retained their composure. Opting for a harder compound tyre for the final loop they strengthened their position and despite a slow puncture on one stage led Ogier at the final overnight halt by 30.9 seconds with Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) a further 39.6 seconds behind in third.