Meeke settles scores with Citroën: “The truth was never given to me”

This is without a doubt one of the most explosive interviews to read in CARhebdo this season. A few days after the announcement of his return to the World Rally Championship (WRC) in 2019 with Toyota, Chris Meeke opened his heart for an uncompromising interview with his former Citroën team.

In this interview to be found in full in the n ° 2190 (in digital version and on newsstands), the Briton speaks frankly about the attitude of the Reds when Citroën announced his ouster in the spring of 2018. “I definitely didn’t expect it. (...) What upset me the most is the infantile formulation of the letter announcing to me their decision, the immaturity of their words. »

Even describing this press release as " shit ", Kris Meeke also points out errors in debriefings within the team. Example during Rally of Sardinia 2017, ended with an exit from the track. “Suddenly, the car stalls. I show the videos to the engineers, asking them how could I have, should I have done things differently. I did not get any answer, he recalls.

I then asked them if for whatever reason the car needed to be redesigned, it would have other features. They looked me straight in the eye and said, “No!” ". Later, an engineer discovered something wrong with the geometry and the very nature of the car. It took them a year to implement the solution. Even more, since this new version made its debut this year, in Finland. »

Another good day with plenty of kilometers in my new car! Update at https://t.co/Knn2K2h6Vb pic.twitter.com/8WrEkSmczO

— krismeeke.com (@krismeeke) 17th October, 2018

The 2009 IRC champion then details the lack of confidence he felt behind the wheel of the C3 WRC. « Basically something wasn't right in the design. Correcting this anomaly depends on the people responsible for its development and evolution. Personally, I couldn't blame a piece of metal. It’s up to the staff responsible for doing it to understand what needs to be changed…and execute it. Were the right people not in place? Were the budgets insufficient? The truth was never given to me”, he expresses.

The rest of the interview with Kris Meeke can be found in issue 2190 of AUTOhebdo, on sale at newsstands and in digital version.