SS4: Battery warning light drama for Meeke

Kris Meeke lost time on SS4 at ‘Coiluna-Crastazza 1’after the battery warning light on his Citroen DS3 WRC came on in the 20.29km stage. He wasn’t able to push as hard as he wanted and was 12.1s behind his team-mate Mads Ostberg at the finish and ninth overall. “The battery alarm has gone off and we were losing power through the whole stage. I don’t know what it is or if it’s serious,” he said.

The lead of the rally changed again on SS4, with Thierry Neuville overhauling his team-mate Juho Hanninen after going 3.3s faster on the stage. Neuville admitted that he could have pushed harder, but didn’t want to take any risks. For Hanninen, it was a bit more uncomfortable inside the cockpit. He said: “That stage was very, very slippery. I was struggling to find a rhythm.

Nasser Al-Attiyah continued to lead in the WRC 2 category. The Qatar driver held a 12.1s lead over Karl Kruuda in the brand-new Peugeot 208 T16 R5. But it wasn’t all plain sailing for Al-Attiyah. “We’ve had an issue with the car cutting out,” he said. “I changed the plugs and all the wires and everything. I think it was one of the switches that was not connected properly. I hope we can carry on okay.”