It's a situation the Ulsterman consistenly finds himself in: an uncertain future. Kris made his break into the WRC last year after the imperious Sebastien Loeb completely left the WRC, and ever since Citroen boss Yves Matton has not penned either Meeke or his team mate Mads Ostberg to any more than a one year deal. For the first rounds of the second half of the season in Finland, Germany and Australia, Matton has declared he will assess who will drive for the team in 2016 after those three events, which are all completely different in style. The drivers have been told to adopt their own strategy for the events, and so far things haven't gone so smoothly for Dungannon's finest. Kris is under massive pressure from the team to deliver, especially now they have slid behind Hyundai to 3rd in the manufacturers championship. Despite winning the fourth round in Argentina, mistakes in Sardinia, Poland, Finland and Germany have put Kris' position within the team in serious jeopardy. In both Finland and Germany, Kris was running high up the order as best of the rest to the dominant Volkswagens but has paid a heavy price for small mistakes. Instead of claiming a potential 27 points, he has wound up with just 2 from the last two rounds courtesy to a strong Power Stage result in Germany. This proves that it isn't Meeke's speed that is the issue, it is his consistency. What he ideally needs is a win in Australia, but ultimately an incident free result has to be the primary goal, with anything else really being a bonus. Beating Mads Ostberg will also come in handy. Citroen face a difficult decision for 2016, and the strong performance by young Frenchman Stephane Lefebvre in Germany only makes that choice more tricky. However, whether the French squad feel he is ready for a fully fledged season for a works team in the WRC remains to be seen. I anticipate what may happen is Citroen plump for Kris Meeke and Mads Ostberg for 2016 once again, with the view to give Lefebvre some more WRC outings in the hope he will be ready for the 2017 season. That means Meeke and Ostberg will be consistenly under pressure for the end of this season and potentially next season. However, for whoever does miss out on a Citroen seat, there is always Tommi Makinen's Toyota team... Both Meeke and Ostberg would fit in well there.
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WRCArticles covering the World Rally Championship Archives
January 2018
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