Kris Meeke has a message for the watching world: don’t be expecting any heroics at this week’s Rally de Portugal.
While the Northern Irishman arrives in Matosinhos on the back of seven straight wins, he’s frank in his appraisal of his chances of landing WRC2 success on Sunday. The issue for the Hyundai Portugal star is his position on the road on Friday’s opening day of stages.
Because Meeke and co-driver Stuart Loudon are competing in the domestic series as well as WRC2 – but don’t have any recent WRC results – they could be running as low as 24th on the road and 15th Rally2 car.
“It’ll be a different kettle of fish for us,” Meeke told DirtFish. “If the roads are just a wee bit soft, it’ll be rutted like hell where we are. It’s like a different rally where we’re running, away at the back of the WRC.
“It’s hard to take pleasure from the roads where you’re in those conditions – it’s a lottery with all the rocks around on the road. There’ll be lots of punctures and people will be comparing us to the guys up at the front of the field in the latest cars.
Meeke was running well before suspension trouble forced his Hyundai Portugal i20 N Rally2 to the sidelines in Lousã last year
“It’s a shame, but it is what it is. When we come here on the national rallies, the roads are just beautiful. But it can be a bit s**t this week.”
Meeke fell foul of the rougher conditions on Portugal’s WRC round last year. He was leading the national round when his i20 N Rally2 hit suspension trouble on the second run through the Lousã stage.
“Look,” said Meeke, who won Rally de Portugal outright with Citroën in 2016, “I’m here because I enjoy driving and I love competing here. Portugal is, for me, probably the best national championship in the world. It’s awesome. We’ll just focus on the Portuguese points.”
Meeke, who has dominated this year’s Portuguese championship, is well-loved in this part of the world – not least for his efforts at the recent Rali Terras d’Aboboreira, where he rolled at shakedown and went on to win the rally the following day.
