Kris Meeke claimed his third shakedown victory of the season in Thursday morning’s sun-kissed warm-up at Rally Corsica.
The Briton was quickest through the 5.39km Sorbo Ocagnano test by 0.9sec from Sébastien Ogier’s Citroën C3. Meeke’s Toyota Yaris team-mate and championship leader, Ott Tänak, was a further 0.5sec behind in third.
Meeke posted the three fastest times of the morning on the dry asphalt. His opening run was the benchmark, until he shaved a tenth from it in his third and final pass.
“Unfortunately there are no points for shakedown, which is a real shame as I have been fastest on three of them this year!” Meeke joked.
“It felt good this morning and I have to try to carry that confidence and translate it through to the rally, that’s the important part. We tried a different setting on the final run and it still felt very good, so we have two nice options for the rally.
“It was a different damper which offers a different type of set-up. Both seemed to work quite well, and with the different characteristics of this rally I think we can use that,” he added.
Dani Sordo was the leading Hyundai i20 driver in fourth, 2.2sec off the pace. Jari-Matti Latvala ensured a third Yaris in the top five, while Elfyn Evans completed the top six in a Ford Fiesta.
Top Positions:
| POSITION | DRIVER | CAR | TIME |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Kris Meeke | Toyota Yaris | 3min 46.7sec |
| 2. | Sébastien Ogier | Citroën C3 | + 0.9sec |
| 3. | Ott Tänak | Toyota Yaris | + 1.4sec |
| 4. | Dani Sordo | Hyundai i20 | + 2.2sec |
| 5. | Jari-Matti Latvala | Toyota Yaris | + 2.3sec |
| 6. | Elfyn Evans | Ford Fiesta | + 2.5sec |
| 7. | Esapekka Lappi | Citroën C3 | + 2.7sec |
| 8. | Sébastien Loeb | Hyundai i20 | + 2.8sec |
| 9. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai i20 | + 3.4sec |
| 10. | Teemu Suninen | Ford Fiesta | + 4.6sec |