Future IRC return possible for Meeke

2009 IRC Champion Kris Meeke has said that he will not turn his back completely on the IRC, saying that a return isn’t impossible.

“You never know for the future. For now my focus is with MINI and their programme in the world championship. I’ve had a great time in the IRC but this is going to be a new and exciting project and an opportunity to play a part in a major development programme.”

Hailing from Dungannon, Meeke was Peugeot UK’s shock signing in 2009. The Irishman got his IRC debut off to a bad start, crashing out of the season-opener Rallye Monte Carlo. However, he shook off the crash to claim four wins and the IRC title in his debut year.

2010 was a bit of a disappointment, with the Peugeot 207 S2000s not being up to the pace of the Skoda Fabia S2000. In fact, when compared to the 2009 results, where Peugeot claimed five wins, the Kronos Racing run team claimed only three wins in the series. In stark contrast to Peugeot’s 3 wins, Skoda took seven. Meeke finished third in this year’s standings, with one win, and five retirements, to his name.

Meeke has said that his MINI contract would never have come if it wasn’t for Peugeot signing him.

“It’s fair to say I would not have the opportunity I have now without the IRC. It was a breath of fresh air for me. It’s a big step from a national championship but not so big that you can’t be competitive. The cars are the same specification and we’ve seen on events where you have 26 Super 2000 cars and at least 10 of them are genuinely capable of winning. It’s highly, highly competitive.”

Meeke will begin his MINI career on next year’s Rally d’Italia Sardegna.