Afternoon flourish puts Latvala clear
Latvala takes 13 second lead into Finland’s final day
More disappointment for Meeke in Finland
Kris Meeke's run of WRC misfortune continued in Finland today when he threw away his chance of a podium by crashing while in a comfortable third place.
It was the third incident in as many rallies for Meeke, who also crashed in Sardinia and Poland, and comes at a time when he is under mounting pressure to prove he deserves his place in Citröen's factory team.
Before Finland, team boss Yves Matton warned that the Ulsterman's recent form had wiped out the positives of his win in Argentina and put his future in the team in jeopardy.
Meeke was well cushioned in third place when his DS 3 went off in wet conditions less than 2kms into Saturday's sixth test, the repeated 21km Jukojärvi, breaking its front-left suspension.
"The first few corners felt okay. Then, on a right over a crest that tightens, I turned in and the car started to slide a bit," Meeke told wrc.com.
"Once it got onto the mud, just off the line, I started to aquaplane and went slowly, slowly slowly towards a tree. I don't know what the impact speed was, maybe 20kph? And it had to hit on the wheel. So, unfortunately, that's our rally over."
Before the crash, Meeke had been the closest challenger to Volkswagen duo Sébastien Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala - the same situation that netted him third place in Finland in 2014.
Meeke said: "We were following the same path as last year. We were close at times, but the guys ahead just had an edge. Okay we had our issues, but that's the way it seems to be going at the minute.
"Yes, the stage times are positive but they always have been - that's the problem. I'll just try to keep doing my best and see where we go."
