Meeke confident more to come as Citroen Abu Dhabi win Rally Spain
Kris Meeke has backed himself and the Citroen Abu Dhabi Rally team to have a strong end to the 2017 World Rally Championship (WRC) season after the Northern Irishman won Rally Spain yesterday.
It was Meeke and the team’s second success of the season after winning in Mexico in March, but he had struggled subsequently, scoring only four points in the next six events.
But, he, with co-driver Paul Nagle, was back on form in Catalunya as he won by 28 seconds from championship leader Sebastien Ogier.
Meeke now believes that he can maintain this form at the remaining two rounds in Britain (October 27-29) and Australia (November 17-19).
He said in a news release: “Since our win at Rally Mexico, we’ve had some tough moments, but we’ve picked ourselves up each time by working hard. We always knew this car was terrific on asphalt and I think that we have demonstrated that since yesterday.
“This wins shows the quality of the work done by the entire team and it gives us all a huge confidence boost for the rest of the season.”
The second Citroen of Stephane Lefebvre was sixth for his fourth points scoring finish of the season and he was satisfied with his performance.
The Frenchman said: Sixth place is pretty good, considering my limited knowledge of this event.
“I would say this result was more or less comparable with my top-five finish in Poland. Little by little, as I gain more experience, I’m improving and I hope to be able to confirm my progress in the future.”
Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi, driving the third Citroen, finished 17th, and he said he was delighted to see his teammate on the top step of the podium again.
“As the day wore on, I enjoyed driving the car more and more and I’m very pleased with the progress made by the Citroen C3 WRC,” the Emirati said.
“But I’m most pleased of all about Kris Meeke winning the rally. He had a fantastic race this weekend, it’s a great moment for us all and I’m very proud to see Abu Dhabi promoted by these performances.”
Ogier remains on track to win a fifth drivers’ WRC title as his runner-up spot saw him extend his lead to 37 points with two races to go.
Ott Tanak moved up to second in the standings with third place, ahead of Thierry Neuville, who failed to finish.