MEEKE LEADS THE LINE FOR BRITISH HAT-TRICK

Home-grown drivers are on the cusp of making it three wins in a row

Britain stands on the verge of a World Rally Championship hat-trick for the first time in 16 years as Kris Meeke and Elfyn Evans head Down Under for this week’s Rally Australia.

Citroen star Meeke won Rally Spain early last month while his countryman Evans dominated his home round of the series three weeks later. Victory for either of them in Coffs Harbour would mean the Union Flag flying high over three successive WRC rounds for the first time since Colin Mcrae won Argentina, Cyprus and the Acropolis Rallies in 2001.

As detailed in last week’s Motorsport News, Evans’ chances of success look slim, with DMACK’S made-for-wales tyre likely to struggle in the heat of an Australian summer.

Meeke, however, is increasingly seen as favourite for a rally he’s led the last two times he’s started it.

“I don’t know about the [possible] result,” said Meeke, who made an impression on his first appearance in Coffs Harbour when he won the qualifying stage on only his second-ever outing in a DS 3 WRC. “It would be great to end the year on a high and we’ve gone well here in the past. I didn’t do the rally last year and I didn’t do the recce, but that shouldn’t be too much of a problem. A few of the stages we did in 2015 were turned around and run in the opposite direction last season, so we’re missing a bit of experience there.”

The New South Wales stages are renowned for their cleaning effect, but a greater percentage of forest roads this week is likely to reduce the disadvantage that comes for the first car in.

“I’m not sure how much cleaning there will be on the first day,” said Meeke, who starts sixth on the road. “The roads which clean more on Saturday – the likes of Nambucca are notorious for that; the difference between first on the road and 10th could be as much as a second per kilometre, but everybody will be in their positions by Saturday [with the classification of the factory drivers reversed for days two and three].”

Meeke admitted he headed south for the final round with his mid-season troubles well and truly behind him.

“Spain was good,” he said, “and I’ll be honest, I really enjoyed my [Rally] GB. I know I was seventh, but I was around 40 seconds down on Thierry [Neuville, the top Michelin runner in second place]. OK, he had a 10-second penalty, but it shows just how close that fight was. Everything feels good and nicely settled right now.

“I’m looking forward to Australia, I’ve always really enjoyed the rally. The stages are all a real challenge and the long one in Nambucca is one of the best in the championship. I only ever did the recce for Rally New Zealand, but it has a real feel of the roads over there, it’s fantastic.” Hyundai drivers Hayden Paddon and last year’s winner in Australia, Andreas Mikkelsen – both of whom start behind Meeke on the road – are likely to be a threat for victory this week.

“This is probably my favourite rally of the season,” said Mikkelsen. “We have a good place to start on the road, so let’s see if we can make the most of it.”

Their fellow i20 Coupe WRC driver Neuville is on a charge as he attempts to land second place in the championship behind Ogier. He starts Australia 14 points ahead of his only rival for runner-up spot, Ott Tanak.

Neuville said: “My aim for this final rally is clear: to secure our second place in the championship. We know we have the technical package to compete at the front, so with the addition of a bit of luck I am hopeful we can do what we need to do.”

For M-sport, the focus will be on completing an astonishing season, with a top-three finish on Sunday meaning there will have been one of the Cumbrian firm’s cars on the podium on every one of this season’s 13 WRC rounds.

As I type, a Ford Escort RS1800 has just dropped the clutch off the line at the start of the Newcastleton stage. It’s just after 0800hrs on Monday. Last night, mid- Countryfile, the cars were just south of Eskdalemuir in some of the most evocatively named stages in the world; Castle O’er closed Sunday out. Friday was Wales. Saturday was Kielder.

Following a second run through Falstone (the 30th stage of the event) the Roger Albert Clark Rally finished at Kielder Water.

Who won? Don’t know. And quite frankly, I don’t care (although I really hope Marty Mccormack managed a two-minute gap to the finish). What’s important here is that this event survives and flourishes. Four days and 300 competitive miles takes us back to the halcyon days of the mid-1990s; the massed ranks of RS1800S, RS1600S and a Lancia Stratos, the Sixties and Seventies.

A linear route running up country in November. What’s not to love?

And people have clearly fallen for the R.A.C. all over again. There was always a buzz about this event, but the love coming through social media from the first stage at Shelsley Walsh was incredible. It’s the first time I’ve come close to appreciating an atmosphere in 140 characters. Count me in next year.

So, that’s congratulations to the organisers of a superb rally. And now more congratulations to Mattias Ekstrom for, er, finishing second in World RX.

Am I missing something? It’s the same with Thierry Neuville and Ott Tanak in Australia this week – all the talk’s about who’s going to finish second. What happened to second being the first loser? A BelgianEstonian scrap over some WRC silver really doesn’t excite me. What excites me is the prospect of another totally wide open, world-class battle in breathtaking cars on brilliant roads. Ahead of six people. Seven if Brett gets his sheep sheared in time. Apologies for reaching so easily for the national stereotype, but this week will be one of the least locally appreciated rallies of the year.

From a sporting perspective, Australia is – and always has been – a standout event. But the lack of fans is becoming ever-more noticeable when it’s stacked up against the likes of Finland and Wales. And you can’t use the European argument, look at how numbers of spectators in Mexico have rocketed in recent years. More on this topic next week.

But I’ll finish with a rearward look of appreciation. This time the admiration is saved for Chris Sclater. I’m embarrassed to admit I knew little of the 1971 British Rally champion beyond the fact that I’d been regularly castigated for spelling his name wrong in my early days at MN. So when Jonathan Pulleyn got in touch to ask if I’d be interested in taking a look at his book on Sclater, I was delighted. And what a treat Memories of a Rally Champion is. Pulleyn has pulled together facts, figures, anecdotes (including John Davenport’s recollection of 180 cars being caught speeding on the 1973 Monte) and plenty of Motoring News quotes to capture and showcase Sclater’s career quite superbly. To get your copy head to cjpublications.co.uk.