The Kris Meeke Situation: Good Call, Wrong Execution
Meeke's C3 after his off in what turned out to be his final event in Portugal
After a huge off in Portugal, Kris Meeke was axed by Citroen Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team. The French team cited Meeke's 'excessively high number of crashes' as their reason for cutting ties with the Northern Irish driver, who failed to finish seven of the 18 rounds he's competed in since the start of 2017.
His nightmares started in Sweden, after crashing into a snow bank before colliding with Ott Tanak's Toyota Yaris as the Estonian tried to overtake the struggling C3, forcing the retirement of Meeke and a huge time loss for Tanak.
The struggle continued in Mexico, a half roll on Sunday while holding second saw him drop to third, with issues for the cars behind preventing him from falling any further.
In Corsica he had his third off in three round, with co-driver Paul Neagle misreading a pace note, sending Meeke well of the road before fighting back to ninth in rally2 regulations on Sunday.
On to Argentina and Meeke suffered bad luck at a time he couldn't afford, dropping to seventh after a puncture before the final nail in the coffin, his huge off at Portugal. Meeke ran wide in stage 12, flying off the side of the stage and colliding roof first with a tree, completely destroying his C3 and making rally2 impossible.
In the week following the event, Citroen announced their decision to release Meeke from his contract, but it became apparent they hadn't made him aware of their decision before announcing it to the public, a shocking disservice from Citroen to a man who had served them loyally for six years.
Despite the poor treatment of Meeke, I believe it was the correct call. As a team leader, it's not really acceptable to fail to score points in nine rounds out of the previous 18. The only driver to trial Meeke that has competed in every round is Jari-Matti Latvala, and team-mate Craig Breen only trials him by nine points despite having competed a round less than Meeke following Sardegna (the first round since Meeke's release).
However, as well as the execution of the decision, the timing may also be off. Citroen could have waited until the summer break, giving them a better chance at discussing what they wanted to do while still running three cars in Italy.
Also, replacement options are thin on the ground. Current Citroen employees in the form of selected events driver Mads Ostberg and WRC2 competitor Stephan Lefebvre provide the two most simple choices. A left field shout but one that I can't help but think would be a great choice is Pontus Tidemand.
The reigning WRC2 champion and current championship leader has just signed a new deal with Skoda, but the Czech manufacturer repeatedly refute suggestions of them stepping up to full WRC in the near future, a step that Tidemand must be keen to take. The Swede has shown he is ready for a full WRC seat, consistently bringing his Fabia home and doing so quickly, matching or beating drivers like Andreas Mikkelsen, Esapekka Lappi and Elfyn Evans in recent seasons.
As a Skoda fan, I'd be gutted to see Pontus leave, but a driver of his talent should be in the WRC and this may well be the best opportunity to break in.