Kris Meeke not aiming for victory in Mexico

Kris Meeke had a good start to the event at Rally of Mexico since he completed the first stage with a lead of 21 seconds over Sébastien Ogier (M-Sport) en profitant notamment de sa bonne position sur la route et d’un mélange de pneus durs et tendres efficace dans les 54km d’El Chocolate (ES4). Le Nord-Irlandais n’a que regretté une poignée de secondes perdues dans Las Minas (ES5) après avoir calé.

If the leader's position seems well established, the driver of the Citroën C3 WRC does not intend to take any unnecessary risks to maintain his position, his team needing a good result after a disappointing start to the season.

" Everything went well, confirmed Kris Meeke. We certainly had a good starting position, but we had to make the most of it. I didn't attack excessively, because victory is not my goal for the weekend. My only regret concerns my small mistake on SS5, which cost us eight or nine seconds. It feels good after a rather complicated start to the season! I will continue at the same pace in the second stage. »

His teammate Stéphane Lefebvre prefers to maintain his strength in this rough rally where retirements are often numerous. The Frenchman is in 6th place, 20 seconds behind the Ford Fiesta WRC.Ott Tänak (M-Sport) which completes the top five.

“For my first participation in this rally at the wheel of a WRC, the team asked me to learn by adopting a measured pace. We made the right tire choices and I applied myself to the wheel. The two gravel stages allowed me to progress and I am satisfied with my sixth position, less than half a minute from the top 5.”, explained the French pilot.

“This is an encouraging debut for the Citroën C3 WRC on gravel, underlined Yves Matton, director of Citroën Racing. Due to its length, the heat and the outside temperature, the El Chocolate stage is the most demanding of this rally. We are therefore satisfied to achieve the best time with a reliable, efficient car that behaves satisfactory for the drivers. However, we had a conservative approach, as evidenced by our choice to carry two spare wheels. »

The second stage of the Rally Mexico will start at 15:33 p.m. French time.