Meeke wins Ypres Rally

Eurosport - Sat, 20 Jun 23:41:00 2009

Peugeot UK's Kris Meeke won his third consecutive event at the Ypres Rally in Belgium to extend his lead in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge championship standings.

IRC 2009 Sata Rally Acores Kris Meeke Peugeot UK - 0

Meeke, who also won in Brazil and the Azores, ultimately claimed a 20-second victory over his nearest rival, Skoda's Jan Kopecky.

Ypres expert Freddy Loix of Peugeot Belgium-Luxemburg took third place at his home event after fellow Skoda driver Juho Hanninen sustained a puncture four stages from the finish.

Hanninen ended up in fifth, with Peugeot Belux guest driver Pietre Tsjoen taking full advantage to claim fourth spot.

Tsjoen had been embroiled in a enthralling battle with Giandomenico Basso, but a puncture to the Abarth driver's tyre on the final run saw him slow and end the race in eighth place.

Meeke now has a six-point advantage on Loix in the drivers' championship, and nine on Jan Kopecky.

The next IRC round will take place at Rally Russia from July 9-10.

Overall results after SS16:

1 Meeke 2h32m16.3s

2 Kopecky +20.4s

3 Loix +1m40.5s

4 Tsjoen +2m35.3s

5 Hanninen +3m35.1s

6 Schammel +4m06.4s

7 Van den Heuvel +4m06.5s

8 Basso +4m24.9s

Rally-Live.com / Eurosport

Comment 1 - 6 of 6

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  1. rob the gob. you seem to spout more @#$% than a muck­ spreader. they were fast if you could drive. we used­ to win rallys . hot rods . rallycross. and more so i­ do know what i am on about. you even back up my point­ rwd was lots more fun . it was not a dream OLD chap . ­ i think you have had too much sun . the clubman is­ what rallying is all about . so dear chap what would­ you say is the way forward for the clubman because in­ my mind a lot of the parts suppliers need the clubman .­ so to finish you are trying to tell me that your fwd­ toymota would beat our RS1800 their is only one­ village dreamer here . sweet dreams. check the­ battery on your buggys charged before you go out for­ your papers.

    From William S, on Tue 23 Jun 1:23AM

  2. William - yr full of @#$%. I am now 63 and stopped­ racing only 5 years back. I have raced them all, from­ Mk 1 Escorts - Lotus Cortinas and the last rwd I used­ was the Corolla GTi before they started it with fwd. I­ actually changed the two in succesive years Corolla rwd­ to fwd. Let me put you in the BIG picture. rwd was lots­ more fun, but it was considerably SLOWER. 4wd is unreal­ - far too expensive, and makes it much too easy to­ drive over anything. BAN the 4wd Yes. I lived in Greece­ for 32 years and rallied MOST of them and covered the­ Acropolis 3 times in the 80's ( and finished!) so­ go back to your village dreams my lad.

    From Rob, on Mon 22 Jun 12:04PM

  3. saw this last night on tv.. this front wheel drive and­ 4wd stuff just seems dull. ive been around rallying­ since1967
    and yes these car are fast but from the­ outside there is just no excitement rwd had it all .­ long power slides at 10500rpm. rally as it should be ­ . its all to clinical .

    From William S, on Sun 21 Jun 12:07PM

  4. WEll done to Kris Brilliant drive Loix is a real tarmac­ guy so to even get close was good but to beat him,but­ rob I agree to a point about seeing him at ford but­ matt is really doing well on his 5 year plan and I­ think this is the best way to do it GO KRIS GO !!!

    From Steve P, on Sun 21 Jun 9:40AM

  5. Loix as I said would have to slow down to save the car­ and get points. Meek would have fought him and probably­ won anyway - excellent job Chris. Maybe next year you­ can get a team drive in real cars for the WRC - I am­ sure you can outdo Wilson Jnr.

    From Rob, on Sun 21 Jun 6:38AM

  6. Well done Kris another Ulsterman on top of his sport­ and this from our wee country

    From realroads, on Sun 21 Jun 12:56AM
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