Meeke´s win thrills boss van Dalen

The boss of Kronos Racing, which runs Kris Meeke’s Peugeot UK-backed 207 Super 2000, has described the Northern Irishman’s victory on Rally Internacional de Curitiba last week as “one of the best of his career”.

Marc van Dalen, the joint owner of the Belgium-based Kronos squad, was hugely impressed by the defending Intercontinental Rally Challenge champion’s performance on the two-day gravel event in Brazil, which he led from start to finish.

“Honestly it’s one of the best of his career,” said van Dalen. “We make a plan together two days before the rally. He followed the plan to make a big gap from the beginning and then to manage the gap afterwards and this is exactly what he did. It was perfect, brilliant.”

Thirty-year-old Meeke’s victory, the fifth of his IRC career and a new IRC record, puts him into third in the overall drivers’ standings heading into round three of the series in Argentina next week.

Meeke’s IRC wins:

— Brazil 2009: completes a lock-out of stage wins on day one for his first IRC triumph.
— Açores 2009: survives a mini hurricane for his second victory on the bounce to take title lead.
— Ypres 2009: upsets the form book by beating local legend Freddy Loix on his Ypres debut.
— Sanremo 2009: seals IRC drivers’ crown with thrilling victory on the famous asphalt event.
— Brazil 2010: error-free performance gives Meeke his first win of 2010 campaign.