MEEKE CONFIRMED FOR RALLY SPAIN
Brit Kris Meeke will lead Citroen’s attack at the next round of the World Rally Championship in Spain.
The Northern Irishman will be joined in the French squad by Stephane Lefebvre and Khalid Al Qassimi, leaving no space for Craig Breen or Andreas Mikkelsen.
Meeke’s place in the team had been in question after he struggled for form on Rally Finland and then crashed on a Thursday night superspecial stage in Germany last month. Meeke returned to the C3 WRC and progressed through the first two days of the Saarbrucken-based event before he retired with a cooling issue on the car.
Citroen team principal Yves Matton is looking for Meeke to put his difficult run behind him and return to the sort of speed which helped him to victory in Mexico earlier in the season.
Matton said: “As a mixed surface event, Rally Spain matches the qualities of the C3 WRC pretty closely and we hope we can be among the frontrunners again. Quick on both gravel and Tarmac, Kris Meeke will hopefully be able to build on the confidence he acquired during the second leg in Germany and aim to secure a positive result. Stephane Lefebvre, whose involvement was announced several weeks ago, will also be looking to confirm his progress. Lastly, Khalid Al Qassimi will be driving the third C3 at a rally that he particularly enjoys.”
While Breen misses out in Spain, he will be back in the factory Citroen for the last two rallies in Britain and Australia.
Matton added: “Obviously, Craig Breen’s fans will be disappointed that he is not competing in Spain, but I have to contend with budget restrictions that mean we can’t enter any more cars. At the start of the season, Craig’s programme was planned over 11 rallies and we considered, in consultation with Craig, that it was preferable for him to be competing in Wales and Australia instead.”
Breen’s is the only confirmation for the final two rounds, however. Matton has already told Motorsport News he will not make any firm decisions on full team selection before he has to for the rest of this season.
The regulations for Wales Rally GB and Rally Australia mean, however, Matton will have to show his hand before he knows how the team has fared in the previous event; entries close for Britain’s WRC counter on Tuesday September 26, nine days before the start of Spain and he needs to reveal his Australian line-up by Monday October 16, 10 days before GB kicks off.
“This is something we need to work with the FIA on,” Matton told MN. “Nominating the drivers before the previous rally is finished is not really ideal and I don’t understand why it has to be like this.”
Meeke was unavailable for comment when MN contacted him regarding his Rally Spain entry, but the Briton will be relieved to start an event he finally found form on last season. In 2016, he found a set-up which suited him for the day one gravel stages and was able to post fastest time on the second run through Terra Alta. His Spanish run was ended early on Sunday with an engine fault aboard the DS 3 WRC.