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N. Irish pilot Kris Meeke, winner of Argentina rally

Xinhua, April 27, 2015 Adjust font size:

Northern Irish pilot Kris Meeke (Citroen) on Sunday, for the first time, became the winner of the XION Rally Argentina 2015, the fourth round in the 2015 World Rally Championship season.

Meeke won with a time of 3 hours, 41 minutes and 44 seconds, just 18 seconds above his team partner, Norwegian Mads Ostberg, while Welsh pilot Elfyn Evans (Ford Fiesta) reached third place.

Meeke snapped the streak of French pilot Sebastien Ogier (Volkswagen Polo), current two-time World Rally champion and five-time winner of Rally Argentina.

Ogier, who had won the previous three rounds of the World Rally season in Montecarlo, Sweden and Mexico, lost the opportunity to win in Argentina after he quit the race last Friday due to an engine problem. He returned on Saturday but finished in 9th position.

Norwegian Andreas Mikkelsen (Volkswagen Polo) also quit the race on Friday.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, Finnish pilot Jari-Matti Latvala had to leave the race when he was in third position due to a problem with his VW Polo car before the end.

Last Friday, Meeke, 35, became the leader and remained there until the end.

Czech pilot Martin Prokop (Ford Fiesta) reached fourth place, followed by Spanish Dani Sordo (Hyundai) and Saudi Khalid Al Qassimi (Citroen).

On Sunday, the two stages ran in Cordoba province (El Condor-Copina and PowerStage-Condor) were won by Mikkelsen and Ogier.

After four rounds, Ogier remains leader of World Rally with 84 points, followed by Ostberg (51), Mikkelsen (47), Evans (41) and Meeke (35).

The next round will be held in Portugal on May 21. Endit