MEEKE CONFIRMED AT TOYOTA THIS WEEK
Lap pi move will trigger me eke announcement as replacement
Kris Meeke will be confirmed as a Toyota driver this week – with the news expected on the same day that Esapekka Lappi’s move to Citroen is announced.
MN’S sources say tomorrow (Thursday) is the day most likely for the latest pieces of the World Rally Championship’s driver market jigsaw to fall into place. As soon as Citroen’s communication is sent to reveal Lappi alongside Sebastien Ogier, Toyota will trumpet Meeke’s full-time return to the series.
Meeke returned to a rally car for the first time since departing Citroen in May at last weekend’s Rallylegend event in San Marino. Meeke drove a 2014-specification Ford Fiesta RS WRC in the noncompetitive Stars display side of the event.
Derek Brannigan co-drove Meeke in San Marino, and Meeke’s regular navigator Paul Nagle is not expected to follow him to Toyota. Meeke and Nagle have elected to go their separate ways, with both sides quick to report an amicable split.
With Citroen likely to run two cars next season and Meeke completing the Toyota trio alongside Ott Tanak and Jari-matti Latvala, only Hyundai and M-sport have to firm up their 2019 squad – and neither is in any hurry to do so.
Hyundai team manager Alain Penasse told MN: “We have 66 per cent of our line-up sorted with Thierry [Neuville] and Andreas [Mikkelsen]. We’re not in a rush to get the other seat sorted. We can talk to people in Spain and decide this after that event.”
Penasse confirmed again the third i20 Coupe WRC will be shared, with Dani Sordo all-but certain to take half the rounds.
He added: “If we have Sordo then there are a few drivers who are not sorted and we will find somebody to complete the line-up with Dani, no problem. A lot of people are talking about who’s going where and what’s going to happen, but they are just guessing. Dani has had a good year, one of his best this year, and he’s keen on a partprogramme next season, now we have the time to find somebody who wants to share that car.”
Asked if negotiations with Paddon had cooled, Penasse said: “No. There are a lot of drivers out there who are more or less the same [speed]. With Hayden, we’re keen to discuss, but until now we didn’t have a calendar to talk about and his first question would, understandably, be: ‘Which rallies?’ Now we know which rallies are coming next year, we can talk more about this.”
It has been speculated that drivers could be loaned from one team to the next, but MN understands this is unlikely to happen.
Craig Breen and Elfyn Evans remain out of contract and sources close to M-sport admit the Welshman’s star is beginning to fade. Breen, however, remains upbeat about his chances of landing a full-time seat next season. The most likely place for that is Malcolm Wilson’s M-sport team.
Wilson said: “Honestly, that’s not my priority right now. Yes, we’re talking to people, but that [next year’s driver line-up] has to wait. We have to focus on the next two rallies and working towards the championships. Once that’s finished, then we will turn our attention to next year and see what can be done – but certainly, there are no announcements coming from us in the near future.”