Friday's opener offered a mix of fast and technical sections. It started on a wide road in a protected historical area and the first 9.6km were typical fast Finnish roller-coaster roads before it became narrower towards the finish where Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team crew Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle lied 3rd overall in their DS3 WRC before winning SS7 of Day 2 closing the gap with S. Ogier by 4.4sec.
Driven by the wind, heavy rain fell during the first stage before the clouds cleared quickly to leave blue skies. Kris Meeke coped very well with the difficult conditions. Second fastest on the opening stage, he ended the day in the top 3, less than ten seconds behind the leader, having already established a sizeable lead over his nearest challengers.
Less pleased with his times, Mads Ostberg attempted to improve his set-up without managing to make up much ground on the frontrunners. He headed back to Jyväskylä in seventh overall, determined to buck the trend quickly with the help of the technical team.
Said Kris Meeke: "I'm pleased to be right in the middle of the fight for first place. For the time being, my goal is not to try and win stages. I hope I can get to the end of the rally without any problems, whilst staying in touch with the leaders.
"I feel that I'm improving and things are coming together. The new stages tomorrow are going to be very interesting.”
Meanwhile, Mads Ostberg said: "I was quite happy during the first few kilometres, but the times didn't bear out my feeling in the car. We tried to adjust the set-up between each stage without really finding a solution.
"Obviously, I'm disappointed with today's leg, although I know there's still a long way to go in the rally.”
Source: Khaleej Times