Meeke leads Ceredigion Rally as Suninen eyes ERC title

Kris Meeke has taken a commanding lead at Rally Ceredigion, the penultimate round of the FIA European Rally Championship, after a strong Saturday performance. The Toyota driver capitalised on a mistake by Teemu Suninen on the opening stage of the day to build a 20.5-second advantage heading into Sunday's final four stages. Miko Marczyk holds third place, with fellow Polish driver Jakub Matulka in fourth.

Meeke's breakthrough came on the opening stage of Saturday morning, the 12.02 km Aberffrwd test. The Irishman set the fastest time while Suninen, driving a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, spun on the exit of a tight right-hand corner and lost over 10 seconds. The incident handed Meeke an 11.9-second gain. Suninen fought back on the 20.71 km Cwm Elan stage, posting a time 5.7 seconds faster than Meeke to reduce the deficit to seven seconds before the midday service in Aberystwyth. However, Meeke regained the initiative over the remaining stages, winning three consecutive tests to extend his lead to 19.4 seconds before the final double pass through the Aberystwyth street stage, where he finished 20.5 seconds clear.

Despite losing the lead, Suninen remains in a strong position to secure his first ERC title. The Finn can clinch the championship on Sunday if he finishes second or higher, provided that Andrea Mabellini—his only remaining rival for the crown—finishes no higher than seventh and scores no more than one point on the Power Stage. Mabellini currently sits seventh, over a minute behind the leader.

Marczyk trails Meeke by 41.5 seconds, holding a 27.5-second buffer over Matulka. Max McRae occupies fifth place in a Fabia RS Rally2, eight seconds behind Matulka and on course for his best ERC result to date. In the ERC3 category, Ville Vatanen leads in a Ford Fiesta Rally3 and needs only to finish the rally to secure the title. The FIA ERC4 and Junior ERC battle remains tight, with Timo Schulz holding a 0.8-second advantage over Tom Heindrichs after the Aberystwyth street stage repeats.

Sunday's finale comprises four stages totalling 63.80 km, beginning with the 20.64 km Gorsgoch test at 08:15 local time, followed by Ty Glyn, a repeat of Gorsgoch, and a final pass through Ty Glyn as the Power Stage.