Last year, you’d have thought, was old news.
In Portuguese rallying circles, the focus is very much on next week: Rally Serras de Fafe, and the beginning of another new season headlined by World Rally Championship winners Kris Meeke and Dani Sordo.
But the 2024 season hit the headlines again today (Thursday), as Meeke – who had topped the standings by two points over Armindo Araújo – has only just been confirmed as the official Portuguese champion.
How on earth can that be?
Unusual state law
Throughout the entire 2024 season, Meeke knew that no matter what he did, he could not end the year as the Portuguese champion.
Any of his Portuguese rivals, however, would have been declared champion had they topped the standings.
Meeke beat Armindo Araújo by two points, but wasn't initially declared champion
That’s because a state law, established by the Regime Jurídico das Federações Desportivas (translated as Legal Regime of Sports Federations) in 2008, governed that any foreign athlete would be prohibited from winning the national championship in any individual sports like motor racing.
The awkward situation of a non-Portuguese driver winning the championship reared its head in 2023 when Irishman Craig Breen was set for a full Portuguese season alongside his Rally1 commitments for Hyundai.
The Portuguese Automobile and Karting Federation (FPAK) looked into the matter at the time, and its investigation indicated that the ruling to not award foreign drivers the championship title was unconstitutional given it contradicted European Union agreements regarding sports and free movement of people.
FPAK had attempted to resolve the issue with the Instituto Português do Desporto e Juventude (IPDJ – translated as Portuguese institute of sport and youth), but had no solution by the time Meeke beat Araújo to the title at Rallye Vidreiro on October 12, 2024.
What changed?
Sports & You, the team which ran Meeke’s Hyundai Portugal-backed i20 N Rally2, emailed FPAK on October 29 as the final league table did not mention specifically who was national champion.
The FPAK responded a day later (October 30) to outline that it understood it could not attribute the title of 2024 CPR National Champion, as a result of the highest scoring driver not being a national citizen.
The matter was taken to a sports attribution court where Sports & You argued the lack of visibility of being a national champion would cost it sponsorship and make the Portuguese championship less attractive to overseas drivers.
The court report labeled the situation “blatantly discriminatory and unfair” and an “unacceptable distortion of sporting truth”, and thus ruled for an annulment of the original decision not to award Meeke the title of national champion which, originally, “directly violated” European Union law.
Going forward, a non-Portuguese national is required to be declared champion should they finish the season as the highest-scoring driver – so the same situation cannot repeat itself if Meeke or Sordo top the championship in 2025.
Meeke’s reaction
Having now officially been crowned Portuguese champion – his first title since winning the Intercontinental Rally Challenge in 2009 – Meeke feels the recognition is “a matter of principle” for his team, but doesn’t matter too much to him personally.
Meeke is happy for his team to get the recongition, but isn't fussed for himself
Meeke told DirtFish: “I’m more happy for Hyundai Portugal and Sports & You because for them it’s a matter of principle. With the amount of investment they put into the Portuguese championship, I’m super happy for those guys and they are the ones who went through the due process of the court.
“For me honestly it makes no difference. Putting a label against my name doesn’t make one bit of difference to me – whether I’m Portuguese champion or not, it doesn’t matter.
“I just enjoy my driving now, so those type of labels don’t really mean anything to me. The job was done and I enjoyed doing it, but super happy for Hyundai Portugal and Sports & You because it’s just a matter of principle.”
Meeke will again contend for this year’s Portuguese championship with Sports & You, but has switched to a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2.
Additional reporting by António Sousa.
