WRC Rallye Deutschland 14 -17 August - Meeke confirmed

[Cess]

I couldn't believe it when Barry told me that Kris Meeke has been provsionally entered for the Rally Deutschland. According to the entry, he's seeded 63 in a Renault Clio Super 1600. Possibly the Excel hire car he used in Killarney and Donegal this year.

Other notables on the list include Gareth Jones (remember him!) in an '05 Focus WRC and Brian O'Mahony in another Super 1600 Clio.

EDIT

Confirmed entry list:

No Driver Make Car
1 Sébastien Loeb Citroen C4 WRC
2 Daniel Sordo Citroen C4 WRC
3 Mikko Hirvonen Ford Focus RS WRC
4 Jm Latvala Ford Focus RS WRC
5 Petter Solberg Subaru Impreza WRC
6 Chris Atkinson Subaru Impreza WRC
7 Gianluigi Galli Ford Focus RS WRC
8 Francois Duval Ford Focus RS WRC
11 T. Gardemeister Suzuki SX4 WRC
12 PG Andersson Suzuki SX4 WRC
15 Henning Solberg Ford Focus RS WRC
16 Matt Wilson Ford Focus RS WRC
17 C. Rautenbach Citroen C4 WRC
18 Urmo Aava Citroen C4 WRC
19 A. Mikkelsen Ford Focus RS WRC

25 Gareth Jones Subaru Impreza WRC

46 Shaun Gallagher Citroen C2 Super 1600

67 Kris Meeke Renault Clio Super 1600

77 Brian O Mahony Renault Clio Super 1600

 

[Nazor]

Excellent news to hear Kris is out on this Rally! best of luck to him as ever!

 

[Graham]

gdgd but we need him doing catalunya so we can get the supporter flags out for someone this year round lol

 

[Cess]

Kris Meeke out to show his class

Kris Meeke out to show his class

By Sammy Hamill
Thursday, 14 August 2008

Kris Meeke returns to the World rally championship determined to serve up a reminder that he "hasn't gone away". The Ulsterman will drive a Super 1600 Renault Clio run by Renault Sport's Italian satellite team, Munaretto, on Rally Deutschland starting tomorrow and although he will be unable to score points in the Junior World championship where he was once the pacemaker for Citroen, Meeke's aim will be to measure himself against the new breed, some of whom are being described as the "next big thing" in world rallying.

One of them is Sebastien Ogier, the 25-year-old Frenchman who leads the JWRC series and is being talked of as "Sebastien Loeb Mark 2".

Effectively he replaced Meeke in the Citroen junior team and appears to be on course to emulate Loeb by becoming JWRC champion in his first season.
Ironically Ogier is heading our way after Germany. He has been drafted in to drive a "customer specification" Citroen C2R2 Max on the Ulster Rally - an event Meeke won outright 12 months ago.

Now Meeke is relishing the opportunity to go up against him in similar S1600 cars.

"There are a few guys around in the JWRC at the moment, especially Ogier, Aaron Burkart and Martin Prokop who are being tipped as the next big things, so it will be good to see how my times compare against them," he said before setting out for Germany.

"But I won't have the pressure of having to think about championship points which is always great on an event. My plan is to go and drive at my level and take it from there. I've had a first and second place in the JWRC in Germany so I have fond memories of the event."

Meeke's surprise return to the World championship came after he drove an R3 Clio for Renault Sport on Rally Russia last month.

"The discussions started in Russia," said Meeke. "Munaretto and myself were all keen to go to Germany with a Super 1600 Clio so a deal came together for me to go if I could find the cash.

It’s been the usual rush to put the budget together, and I can't thank the sponsors enough for giving me this chance to return to the WRC."
Apart from Ogier, Meeke will also line up against Donegal's Shaun Gallagher, who currently lies third in the JWRC in a C2 Citroen, as well as Cork's Brian O'Mahony, making his German debut in his Clio.

 

[Cess]

After stage three, Meeke is second in class, leading current JWRC leader Sebastian Ogier in a factory backed car by roughly 5 secs and 22nd overall!!

Gareth Jones is a very respectible 20th overall. O'Mahoney is 35th.

 

[RComms]

After stage three, Meeke is second in class, leading current JWRC leader Sebastian Ogier in a factory backed car by roughly 5 secs and 22nd overall!!

Gareth Jones is a very respectible 20th overall. O'Mahoney is 35th.

I know i'm a bit of a Meeke fan to say the least... but look at this result from SS4... Meeke beats the top 2 in the JWRC and Gareth jones in a an S12B i believe... (thats nothing against Jones, hes a quick enough driver!)

awesome. Just gotta keep it together for the rest of the weekend!

21st K. MEEKE
12:28.9

22nd G. JONES
12:29.3
+0.4

23rd S. OGIER
12:30.5
+1.2

24th M. PROKOP
12:31.8
+1.3

 

[Curtiz]

Love the rally of Germany! Cant wait for it tomorrow. Havent read the replies in the thread incase there are results posted

 

[svensktoppen]

Good rally, but not a word about Meke in the commentary.

Unbelievable speed, had to check I was not fast forwarding during the in-car shots. How on earth do they keep the car on the road, insane.

Hirvonen did much better than expected, shame about the puncture.

Loeb is a god on these roads, so precise, miles ahead of the others.

 

[Cess]

Dave show JWRC action in a separate programme. Despite the fact that Loeb won there was only one man in this rally - Kris Meeke.

From his website:

Kris Meeke made an impressive return to the WRC in Rally Germany, despite cruel luck on the last proper stage of the rally. An electrical connection on the Renault Clio’s crank sensor, dropped him seven minutes to 3rd position.

Kris was fastest on 13 of the 17 stages competed, and impressed with his speed and composure.

“OK, the overall results did not happen for us, but it was a great run for the team” said Kris. “Friday was slightly difficult to get a good feeling for the car, as I had no pre-event test. Once the Muneratto team and I had fine-tuned the setup, the car felt really good. When the feeling is good, the times can flow easily. I am driving better than ever now."

“So from that point of view, the event has been a success. I really need to work hard to try and get some more outing like this, but my ultimate aim is a World Rally Car. Results like this help.”

“I really need to thank my backers, they have shown great faith in me. It’s a pity we were not able to give them the win, but it am grateful for the opportunity to prove my pace in WRC again”.

Supporting Kris on this event are

KDM Hire : Carella : Micheal Nugent Mechanical Services : Gerry McVeigh Cars : Pedro Pet Foods : Reamac : M-Tec Graphics : Pirelli Tyres

 

[Cess]

Some excellent pictures of Latvala's off that I found in Flickr: