Van Dalen praises leader Meeke

Marc van Dalen has described his driver Kris Meeke’s performance on the opening day of Rally Internacional de Curitiba as being a “dream drive”.

Meeke and co-driver Paul Nagle will take a 32.7-second lead into the final day of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge qualifier after winning six of Friday’s seven special stages.

Van Dalen, the joint owner of the Kronos Racing team, said: “We spoke before the rally that he needed a lead of 20 seconds after the first loop and a lead of 30 seconds after the second loop and he has done just that. Okay, we made a very good tyre choice but Kris has been exceptional today. It’s quite possible he will loose some tomorrow by running first on the road but I believe he can stay in control.”

Victory for Meeke tomorrow would bring his tally of wins to five and make him the most successful driver in the history of the IRC.