Citroen WRT

[bandit12]

Fck. I Like Meeke, colourful guy. Wrc is not the same without him.

[wrc2017]

Actually it is not fully true. (apart from the fact that there is no Mikkelson or Otsberg in WRC)

Breen has better result this year than Meeke (2nd vs 3rd).
Mikkelsen beat Meeke on both rallies where they raced together (Sardinia - even snail pace was enough to get points and beat Meeks crash, Germany he got second, Meeke got nothing due to crash again + technical, but this time Mikkelsen was also faster than him in 9 out of 13 stages and led him by over a minute in driving time).

Loeb was ahead of Meeke both times when he had puncture and off and beat him on both PS. "Loeb was getting beaten by Lappi in Corsica", he was on Saturday and Sunday + PS, but so was everyone else! Ohh and Lappi crashed causing a puncture in the process

Østberg again beat Meeke on both rallies they raced together in same car (was a lot due to circumstances yes)

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If anything, the 2nd places of Breen + Mikkelsen and Loeb's speed had debunked the idea that "only Meeke can drive C3 fast".
Yes only Meeke did win with it. 2 times in 18 rallies, Mikkelsen drove 3, Loeb and Østberg 2, Breen 14 but before C3 his best results was a single 3rd place.

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Everyone understands that the crash in Portugal was really just the last drop/excuse for Citroen leadership.

However, there was a major difference compared with Ogier, Latvala, Tanak or Paddon. Those guys crashed when they were in real fights, 2 of them while leading the rally.

Meeke crashed when he was 40s behind Østberg and getting beaten by him in stagetimes (Lappi's penalty was registered first on Sunday). At that point he had nothing to fight for and the crash was completely unnecessary.

you always find a way to twist facts to suit your armchair opinion.

speak to any driver in the wrc and I bet not one of them share your opinion, or twisted logic. you sad little individual.

move on to troll the next driver you dont like.

Meeke will be actually vindicated in the long run and relieved and content he tried his best... and walk away, and let citroen try and swim in the PR cesspit they have created. The stark truth is WRC is a poorer show without him.

[RaunoK]

My comment was about "if any spectators was hurt - it was destroyed a brand". Spectator was dead after Huyndais out and they didn't have a destroyed brand after that.

Paddon's was a freak accident caused by spectator being in a wrong place. You couldn't see it coming. Meeke is constantly crashing out at high speeds, something potentially fatal or with severe injuries have been screaming to happen at one point. If Citroen wouldn't kick Meeke out and he'd cause an accident killing on injuring someone, you'd see headlines saying something like "Why didn't they stop the mad man before?".

If potential serious incident has been on the cards for long time and you do nothing to avoid it, you're partly responsible too. If the incident is something you could not foresee, you'll get much less stick.

[Simmi]

I can't have this about Meeke being a danger to the public etc. Complete and utter shite! Citroen weren't wincing and telling him to slow down when he was in the lead of those rallies. This is most likely a very poorly worded and rationale'd bit of PR to try and explain away a decision from high up in the company. Most likely it's to do with their budget being frittered away by repair bills and new chassis orders.

Personally I got past the point of defending Meeke a while ago. With that many crashes you simply can't just assume your employer won't step in. But some of the reasons being banded about are ridiculous.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Paddon's was a freak accident caused by spectator being in a wrong place. You couldn't see it coming. Meeke is constantly crashing out at high speeds, something potentially fatal or with severe injuries have been screaming to happen at one point. If Citroen wouldn't kick Meeke out and he'd cause an accident killing on injuring someone, you'd see headlines saying something like "Why didn't they stop the mad man before?".

If potential serious incident has been on the cards for long time and you do nothing to avoid it, you're partly responsible too. If the incident is something you could not foresee, you'll get much less stick.

Exactly. And Paddon got sympathy not criticism.

[Allez Andruet]

I can't have this about Meeke being a danger to the public etc. Complete and utter shite!

Press releases are rarely meant to reflect the absolute truth.

[Allez Andruet]

you always find a way to twist facts to suit your armchair opinion.

They're still facts, right?

[er88]

Reckon Daddy Ostberg can part fund a whole season from Sardinia onwards. And there's the financial benefit; drop Meeke and reduce repair costs, and also bring in budget with the replacement driver.

[TWRC]

I can't have this about Meeke being a danger to the public etc. Complete and utter shite! Citroen weren't wincing and telling him to slow down when he was in the lead of those rallies. This is most likely a very poorly worded and rationale'd bit of PR to try and explain away a decision from high up in the company. Most likely it's to do with their budget being frittered away by repair bills and new chassis orders.

Personally I got past the point of defending Meeke a while ago. With that many crashes you simply can't just assume your employer won't step in. But some of the reasons being banded about are ridiculous.

Well, I think the safety part has some truth in it. For Citroen Racing management to wait around and see if Meeke finds a way to have a crash where they get hit at a worse place and get injured (with all the implications of this for Meeke, Nagle, Citroen, etc) might have been too much of a risk after this last incident. Also, we don't know where the decision was made, maybe Abu Dhabi pulled the plug on him, as they give most of the money...

[Franky]

Sorry guys, but all this talk about "safety" is sounding ridiculous on I don't know what scale. If you are near the limit, on the limit or over the limit, you never know what might happen. Dropping someone for safety reasons is like telling not to go out because you might die.