Kris Meeke does not arrive completely confident in Portugal

Kris Meeke and Citroën Racing will return to the land of Portugal, where the Briton shone last year. Committed to a partial program on the DS3 WRC fielded by Abu Dhabi Racing, the former Mini driver, who had not competed in the two previous gravel events in Mexico and Argentina, won twelve months ago before triumphing a second time in Finland a few months later.

The winner of the 2009 IRC championship will, however, present himself in a different state of mind this year, after a South American event marked by two off-road events, the second of which was at very high speed. “For us, Argentina was incredible and nothing went as planned, Meeke comments. It happens sometimes and I feel ok before Portugal, if not totally confident. »

Sardinian preparation

In preparation for the Lusitanian event, the teams recently carried out several test sessions, some in Portugal, others on different bases, such as Sardinia for the Citroën clan.

“The fact that one of our cars went off the road in Argentina did not affect our preparation for Portugal, since they were not the same chassis, admits Laurent Fregosi, technical director of Citroën Racing.

To prepare both this rally and the next, our four drivers benefited from one day of testing each in Sardinia. We continued our work on the usual areas of development: suspensions, central differential maps, tire evaluation…”

“I think the work done during our last tests will allow us to move in the right direction, Meeke continues. I am happy to compete in this rally (in Portugal), which obviously brings back good memories of my victory in 2016. And then there is the passion of the public for our sport which makes the atmosphere very special. »

On a revised route (with the ES de Cabeceiras de Basto on Saturday, and Luilhas or Montim on Sunday), Meeke knows that mistakes will not be allowed. “The course has undergone numerous modifications, so most often you will have to start from a blank page for the notes. Concentration will be essential from recognition. »