Didier Clément: Meeke was not dominated by Loeb

Citroën Racing was closely followed last weekend at Rally from Mexico. If the C3 WRC were able to advance to the top positions, taking advantage of good positions on the road, especially the return of Sébastien Loeb which left its mark.

The nine-time WRC champion took control of the event where he won six times before falling in the standings following a puncture in SS14. Enough to make his teammate Kris Meeke pale, who nevertheless took third place and who was fighting for victory before making several errors relegating him too far from the lead of the race.

“We know Kris’s top speed. It is extremely fast, declared Didier Clément, the chief engineer of Citroën Racing, to AUTOweekly. He made mistakes which cost him time, but we cannot say that he was dominated. There is no impressive and noticeable difference in level and speed. We could see it by looking at the gaps. »

“This is why the analyzes that are carried out are, sometimes, a little rapid. It sometimes requires some explanation when you decide to hire a pilot. The discussions are long with small points of disagreement. Exactly, if it were so easy to analyze a driver’s performance, it would be done in 5 minutes”, added Didier Clément.

Discover the full interview with Didier Clément and the analysis of the Rally of Mexico carried out by our special correspondent in issue 2156 of AUTOhebdo, available now in digital version on all platforms and on kiosks.