The 2018 Rallying thread..(WRC, ERC, etc)

[confucuis]

Well Portugal seems to be very tough!

Breen and Meeke suffering punctures, Breen went from third to eighth! Ogier crashed out, Ostberg had a puncture, Paddon crashed out, Tanaks gone, Latvala's gone. The winner will be the one who can survive!

[df76]

Meanwhile, in Portugal it’s been a ridiculous day at the wrc...

[GravelBen]

Carnage!

[tyrrell]

Once again Meeke bins it

[Allyc85]

Proper job too, very lucky lads!!

[df76]

Can't believe that's not a fatal accident. So lucky. Surely Citoren will call time on Meeke now?

[tyrrell]

Yes I think so, such a shame he is always there or thereabouts on Friday morning but bins it in the afternoon normally, if he does make it to the end of Friday then by Saturday afternoon he is off again. I am always checking in to see his progress and my heart sinks again when he is no longer showing on the leader board.

I think he may last his contract till the end of 18 but can’t see Citroen renewing him for next year.

A massive disappointment for all concerned.

[anonymous-user]

df76 said:

Can't believe that's not a fatal accident.

Jeez, they were lucky!









How they avoided significant injury or being killed is remarkable

[greeny12]

Holy Moly! I've not caught up on Saturday's WRC review yet, and I knew Meeke had gone off, but wowzers... state of that car.

I have to say that I was watching his onboards from Friday through my fingers, he seemed really ragged then.

Thanks heavens they're OK. I wonder if that could be it right there, though. Loeb to come in for the rest of the season?

[RyanTank]

Portugal has been brutal for pretty much everyone.

Meeke's off seemed unfortunate rather than stupid error. He said he came in a little too hot and got pulled wide by all the soft sandy stuff dust/gravel. The impact looks shocking and is testament to the engineers that spend years and years perfecting them. despite how it looks the cage acted exactly as it should have and dissipated the energy all around the car instead of through Kris and Paul.
I do think that seeing some stage side video of him going off that its one of those offs that he could have easily gotten away with too. as many have on events over the years.
Meeke is very much a balls to the wall driver and the only one in the Citroen that is likely to get a win. I love Breen but hes just not quite there yet, had he not been victim to Loeb and Lefebvre drives I might fancy him for a win, hopefully I'm wrong but I see a stronger year next year for him with a win. Mads doesn't have the push in him to win an event either, however his consistent driving and scoring could be Meekes downfall. Meeke got st luck Friday with the punctures which pushed him to go that extra tenth on Saturday i think.

Paddon had a lucky escape too if you've seen the damage to his car. he decided to avoid a big rock close to the stage and doing so got it loose and ended up hitting a concrete culvert, Could've ended really badly for him, luckily it didnt.

Cant wait to see the highlights!

Big Big accident in Rally America series this weekend too - Both thankfully walked away from this too. it was once a Subaru!

[RyanTank]

not sure if this plays unless your logged in to facebook - https://www.facebook.com/nelo.moreira.10/videos/13...

[2fast748]

RyanTank said:

not sure if this plays unless your logged in to facebook - https://www.facebook.com/nelo.moreira.10/videos/13...

Woah, the punishment doesn't fit the crime does it?

You expect the trees next to the road to move but it's the ones at the back that start swaying.

Kris really is in the Colin McRae mould, rapid but can't keep it pointing in the right direction long enough (and I say that as a McRae fan)

[confucuis]

I really don't know about Meeke anymore. I think that crash will be seen as a watershed moment, it could very easily have been fatal. He wasn't going to win the rally at that point, he should have been just trying to reach the finish and get some points.

[df76]

Meeke has been removed from the 2018 Citoren WRC squad. Not surprised. http://media.citroenracing.com/en/statement

[Allyc85]

Yeah not surprised. Been a fan of Meeke since his IRC days and always hoped he could get over his WRC crashing. Sadly it was never to be.

[E34-3.2]

I was surprised to see him starting the 2018 season with Citroen already. I think that it is better for him. He will end up killing someone or himself. shame as he is a wonderful fast driver but his lack of concentration has cost so much to the team. who is going for his seat? Loeb?

[RyanTank]

Allyc85 said:

Yeah not surprised. Been a fan of Meeke since his IRC days and always hoped he could get over his WRC crashing. Sadly it was never to be.

Same.

Disappointing for Meeke. But ultimately his own doing, a crash is a crash regardless of cause. I can see Mads filling in the rest of the year and probably Lefebvre stepping up to events they planned a 3 car attack that Loeb isn't available for. I don't think Citroen's budget is as big as made out so the crashes have been costly in all aspects.

I cant help but feel Meeke has been trying to hard since his return after the MINI withdrawal, and the dog of a car they had to use last year. I cant even say having a drive under Malcolm Wilson's tutorage will aid him at this stage. I hope this isn't the last we see of him as he is an exceptional driver when things are going right, maybe a demotion to the C3R5 car would have been better, but then again would a top driver have taken that or just accepted the end of contract.

[airbusA346]

df76 said:

Meeke has been removed from the 2018 Citoren WRC squad. Not surprised. http://media.citroenracing.com/en/statement

From what Kris has been posting on social media it sounds like they didn't tell him before releasing the statement.

[chunder27]

Really, when you think, Wilks was about the same level,a nd his career lasted about as long as Meekes should have

[RyanTank]

Wilks in my eyes was never as good a driver as Kris. The IRC was a good feeder series and gave us champions of it in Juha Hanninen and Andreas Mikkelsen.