Meeke expects to suffer from road position

With the cancellation of Rally from China, the Abu Dhabi Team WRT was able to offer its top driver Chris Meeke the opportunity to contest his home event at Wales Rally GB next weekend.

A round that often smiled on the Northern Irishman, second in 2015 behind the World Champion Sébastien Ogier. A top-notch performance to conclude a season marked by a victory in Argentina.

Meeke, winner in Portugal and Finland in 2016, and who will compete in his last rally with the DS3 WRC in the World Cup before the arrival of the C3 in 2017, recalls on the other hand that the race can be largely influenced by the weather and the starting order.

“Logically, the first car has a huge advantage, underlines the Citroën Racing driver. Then, the trajectory becomes irreparably "ointed" with a layer of slippery mud... Knowing that we will start in ninth position, it risks being very difficult for us. Either way, I'm looking forward to the start. »

The Briton admits to having a particular affection for the event formerly called RAC Rally, which allowed him to discover the discipline. “In the 80s, I discovered rallying on television, watching the Group Bs competing on the RAC specials.

It was also the first World Championship rally that I went to see as a spectator, in 1996 I think. At the time, I marveled at seeing Colin McRae and Richard Burns pass by. Being in the dark, in the rain and with my feet in the mud didn't matter in the slightest!

Then I competed in my very first rally on the Wales stages and that's also where I made my WRC debut, in 2002. It's the terrain I know best and I'm comfortable there. feels like home. »

Kris Meeke will be supported by Craig Breen and Stéphane Lefebvre, who will make his return to the highest level after his violent accident in Germany, which excluded him from the WRC special stages.