The Hyundai driver from Northern Ireland dominated every special stage of the race, with Armindo Araújo (Skoda Fábia) coming in second place, 55.6 seconds behind, and national champion Ricardo Teodósio (Hyundai i20) trailing 58 seconds behind.
Kris Meeke (Hyundai i20), hailing from Northern Ireland, proved to be unbeatable in all nine stages of the Rali Casinos do Algarve, securing his second win of the season in the Portuguese Rally Championship.
Meeke finished the dirt sections of the Algarve race in 1 hour, 2 minutes, and 32.2 seconds. Armindo Araújo crossed the finish line in second place driving a Skoda Fabia, trailing the leader by 55.6 seconds. National champion Ricardo Teodósio secured third place, 58 seconds behind, in his Hyundai i20.
Despite Meeke’s untouchable lead, the real battle took place between Armindo Araújo and Ricardo Teodósio from Algarve, with the edge going to the Santo Tirso driver who began the day in fourth place following Friday’s three special stages.
“We made a tyre management choice with the clear idea that we might not be as fast on the first day but that it would give us a good position on the road in today’s special stages [Saturday]”, explained Armindo Araújo.
It was a challenging journey for the driver from Santo Tirso, who had to dig deep and fiercely compete until the final special stage.
“We managed to climb to second place in the penultimate section and hold the position at the end. Strategically, we were effective”, he stressed.
The fourth place spot went to Ernesto Cunha (Skoda Fabia), while Rui Madeira (Ford Fiesta) secured fifth place, with a gap of over three minutes from the winner.
Meeke is currently leading the championship with 56 points, followed by Armindo Araújo with 44 points and Ricardo Teodósio with 28 points. The next CPR event will be the Rali Terras d’Aboboreira, which will take to the road on April 26 and 27.
