CPR, Rally do Algarve, PEC6: Kris Meeke cemented lead during the morning

Unsurprisingly, Kris Meeke/James Fulton (Hyundai I20N Rally2) were once again the fastest in the last special of the morning of the second day of the Algarve Rally, increasing the advantage over Ricardo Teodósio/José Teixeira (Hyundai I20N Rally2) during the morning, at the same time that the defending national champion duo lost 2.1s to Armindo Araújo/Luís Ramalho (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) on the way through Messines.

With 35.7 seconds separating Meeke from Teodósio, the focus on the pairs fighting for the podium is on the Algarvian and Armindo Araújo. Despite still having a margin, Teodósio maintains second place with a 4.6s advantage over the Skoda Fabia driver, who in the first special stage of the morning climbed to the podium positions through an exchange with Pedro Almeida/António Costa (Skoda Fabia Evo).

The duo of Almeida and Costa lost one position again in special number 5, dropping to fifth place in the general classification, with José Pedro Fontes/Inês Ponte (Citroën C3 Rally2) reaching fourth place. Almeida lost more time on the 24.1 km of the PEC6, the last of the morning section this day, now having a 13.8s disadvantage to Fontes, being 7.1s ahead of Pedro Meireles/Ricardo Cunha (Hyundai I20 N Rally 2), the sixth classified.

Behind the Meireles/Cunha duo, Ernesto Cunha/Rui Raimundo (Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo), who lost two positions in the first section of the morning in Silves, are in seventh place overall, having consolidated their place in PEC6.

Lucas Simões/Valter Cardoso (Ford Fiesta R5 Mk II), who were eighth before the PEC6, lost a lot of time in this special – they finished the first pass through Messines with a difference of 56.4s to the fastest mark that belonged to Meeke -, lowering one position in the general classification of the Algarve race. Simões now occupies ninth place, with Rui Madeira/Nuno Rodrigues Silva (Ford Fiesta Rally2) moving up to 8th place.

Paulo Neto/Nuno Mota Ribeiro (Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo) moved into tenth place in the general classification, as Ricardo Filipe/Filipe Carvalho (Skoda Fabia Rally2) lost two positions in this last special of the morning, with Martynas Samsonas/Ervinas Snitkas (Škoda Fabia N5) in 11th place.

There are also the withdrawals of Rakan Al-Rashed/Hugo Magalhães (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) and Gonçalo Henriques/Gonçalo Cunha (Renault Clio Rally4), both in PEC5 and with gearbox problems.

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