Rally Turkey: Toyota driver Kriss Meeke tops warm-up

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

MUGLA, Turkey (AA) - Kriss Meeke came in first in Thursday's Shakedown practice race, completing the 4.70 kilometer (2.9 miles) Asparan stage in three minutes and 25.3 seconds.

Meeke, who showed a clean pace at his first Marmaris appearance, saying that he sought to "preserve the car as much as possible" in completing three passes.

"I hope dust isn’t a problem early in the morning and we can have a clean run and at least see the big rocks that are coming for us," he added.

Holding second place in the championship battle, Thierry Neuville was 1.2 seconds behind Meeke and completed the warm-up in third place.

Championship leader Ott Tanak finished fourth, 1.4 seconds behind his team-mate, while World champion Sebastien Ogier stayed sixth fastest lacking 3 second in his Citroen C3.

Here are the leading times of the Shakedown:

1. Kris Meeke Toyota Yaris 3 min 25.3 sec

2. Andreas Mikkelsen Hyundai i20 +1.0 sec

3. Thierry Neuville Hyundai i20 +1.2 sec

4. Ott Tanak Toyota Yaris +1.4 sec

5. Teemu Suninen Ford Fiesta +2.2 sec

6. Sebastien Ogier Citroen C3 +3.0 sec

7. Jari-Matti Latvala Toyota Yaris +3.2 sec

8. Esapekka Lappi Citroen C3 +3.5 sec

9. Dani Sordo Hyundai i20 +4.0 sec

10. Pontus Tidemand Ford Fiesta +5.6 sec