WRC – Meeke “You have to be realistic”

For several weeks, the development of the 3 Citroën C2017 has occupied a major part of the team's schedule. Chris Meeke. The Briton will return to the DS3 seat this weekend WRC in the race on the occasion of Rally of Portugal, an event where he was rather to his advantage in 2015.

“I'm happy to be back in the competitive environment, I was starting to miss it, Meeke says. I really like the Rally Portugal. Last year, we all discovered the new route, with roads with a very pleasant profile. I was in contention for victory for a good part of the race before finishing fourth.”

The former pilot of the fold Peugeot tested its DS3 from Abu Dhabi Racing on the sidelines of the Lusitanian round, but has few illusions in the face of competition which is continuing to develop the current WRCs, while Citroën is mainly focusing on the future C3.

“The day of testing we will do on Sunday should help me get back into the rhythm (Meeke and Abu Dhabi Racing missed both Mexico and Argentina rounds). Regarding the rally itself, I obviously hope to fight among the first, but we have to be realistic. We still have a good car, however it is no longer evolving while our opponents are still working hard.

I will look to have a faultless rally and we will see where we are in the hierarchy. I know my starting position should help me. The rules are like this but it shouldn't bother many people, as I'm not playing in the championship this year. »