Northern Ireland’s Kris Meeke says tyre choice will be critical as he tries to avenge losing the lead as Coates Hire Rally Australia heads into a second day.
Meeke arrived back in Coffs Harbour with a 2.1s lead after the opening six forest stages but dropped to fourth in overall classification following the twin runs through the evening 1.6km super special stage.
The DS3 driver is 4.1s off Sebastien Ogier who leads his Volkswagen team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Andreas Mikkelsen after an absorbing opening day.
By virtue of finishing the forest stages in the lead, Meeke and co-driver Paul Nagle will start 11th on the road for day two under the reverse order rules.
Overnight rain in the Coffs Harbour region could see an advantage to the early runners with Australia’s Chris Atkinson (Hyundai Shell World Rally Team) first car on the road.
The Saturday allotment of special stages sees repeat runs through the immensely demanding Nambucca stage of 48.92km and the 8.96km Valla run before heading to the Hyundai Super Special stage for repeat runs.
“As we know they (Ogier and Latvala) are two of the best drivers in the world fighting for a world championship,” Meeke said.
“On the last (forest) stage I really had to push hard to keep my road position for tomorrow.
“It depends on how the weather conditions have gone overnight but road position is really important on Day 2.
“Tyre choice is going to be critical. When you get to situation of 50km (Nambucca) you need to be on the correct tyre.
“That’s the game. We are all in the same boat. And we will see what happens.”
Atkinson and co-driver Stephane Prevot find themselves just under three minutes from the lead in 11th following their tribulations with a sump guard being dislodged.
The problem cost him valuable time with a car which did not want to handle under braking.
“We felt like we had a good run in the first stage but the time wasn’t there and we were thinking why,” Atkinson told Speedcafe.com
“But this kind of makes sense now because we weren’t able to do anything in the afternoon.
“It will give us a good road position and with rain forecast overnight that will be the only benefit.
“First on the road when it rains is probably the best position to be, the reverse of today.
“But I’d rather be up with the other boys.”
Kiwi Hayden Paddon and co-driver John Kennard in the #20 Hyundai i20 will start the second day from sixth on the road after a solid but measured approach from the opening leg.
“We can definitely up the pace,” Paddon told Speedcafe.com
“We know there’s certainly places we can go faster. I just need to be a bit more committed and just have a bit more confidence in the car.
“Day 2 stages are quite different and it should allow me to do that.”
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