Kris Meeke strong leader in Portugal

Kris Meeke (Citroën) continued to increase his lead in the Rally of Portugal in the second passage of the special stages of the first stage. The Northern Irishman finished the day with a lead of 32 seconds over Sébastien Ogier (Volkswagen), even if he was credited with a fixed time (the best) in the SS5 interrupted following the exit of the road of Hayden Paddon (Hyundai).

The New Zealander was in sixth place before rolling over and starting a fire which ravaged his i20 WRC. “Unfortunately, I got caught in a big hole in the road which sent the car into the wreckage. The heat from the exhaust set the bushes on fire. The consequences for a small mistake are very serious and I am sorry for the team.", commented the Hyundai driver on Twitter.

Dani Sordo (Hyundai) lost ground following a puncture on SS7 and remains in third position, five seconds behind the triple world champion.

Andreas Mikkelsen (Volkswagen) climbed to fourth place after taking advantage of the road exit ofOtt Tänak (Ford) in the same place as Hayden Paddon.

Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) completes the top five, 20 seconds behind the Norwegian after suffering a puncture on the same route as Dani Sordo. The Belgian is ahead of Stéphane Lefebvre (Citroën).

Mads Ostberg (Ford) moved up to seventh place but the Norwegian is less than four seconds ahead of his teammate Éric Camilli.

Jari-Matti Latvala (Volkswagen) fell to ninth place more than two minutes behind the Frenchman after driving all afternoon without power steering.

Pontus Tidemand (Skoda Fabia R5), leader of WRC 2, completes the top ten ahead of Martin Prokop (Ford).

The second stage of the Rally Portugal will be followed tomorrow from 10:42 a.m. with our live text.