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23rd May 2017, 16:28 #21
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Say what you like about the car but Meeke himself is more the issue for me. Since he got a WRC chance he's been the classic 'win it or bin it' driver and I cant see him changing now.
Consistency and speed need to go together and his accidents just destroy his confidence and then he tries too hard or goes too slow and loses concentration.
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23rd May 2017, 17:20 #22
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He won't be happy with himself and he's underperformed, nobody can deny that. However the championship was lost after Corsica, and after that car error they've purely been targeting wins. That's the instruction from the team and all Meeke wants to do himself.
The first two events were right offs from the team due to set up and testing mistakes, but he then won in Mexico.
In Corsica that C3 looked at home on the tarmac (surprise surprise), and he was in control out in front and beating Ogier and Neuville on pure pace on tarmac. When has that ever happened to Seb?
In Argentina he was closest to evans and running in second before both C3s had massive issues with the same compression. That also has to be classed as a mistake by Meeke too though, as I read that he maybe approached it too fast? However Citroen as a team have acknowledged they have big suspension issues, and have confirmed they have an update coming later in the year to fix the "problems".
Again in Portugal, Meeke was on the pace and either Meeke or Paddon were about to take the lead of the rally, but a really stupid error ended his chances. That mistake, along with his 2nd crash in Argentina were needless.
So i personally don't think we need to go too overboard about Meeke just yet. He's always been a very fast driver prone to errors, but there have been other mitigating circumstances this year on top of his own performance. Despite that, the margins are still very small and Meeke more than likely would've been the first driver to win two events this year - if his engine didn't blow up in Corsica. The reason why i feel there's a huge reaction to his low pts tally is because too many people expected way too much from him and the returning Citroen. I mean, he was favourite for the championship with the bookies ffs. That's where the money was going....
The question now is; does Meeke force himself to drive at 95% and take a few 3rd and 4th places like Sordo and Tanak have been doing this season? Or seeing that he has nothing to lose, will he keep driving at 100% looking for wins (which is what Citreon's sole objective is for this year)? Maybe having Andreas as a team mate now will push him to up his game....Last edited by er88; 23rd May 2017 at 17:26.
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23rd May 2017, 17:29 #23
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Maybe he/they were favourites after they took the 2016 WRC off to prepare and test their 2017 car.
Plus the C3 was 'built-around' Meeke and his engineering background was said to be key.
Neither of them has any excuse.
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23rd May 2017, 18:04 #24
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Thoughts on Kris Meeke's Recent Performances?
Come on, Tänak has been going 100% all season, but he's had his technical problems and small mistakes taking good positions away. And Sordo, I don't think he ever had a winning pace but he rarely makes a mistake and thus gets decent results. Actually, Breen is becoming the new Sordo.
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23rd May 2017, 18:40 #25
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Wrong. Tänak has said that he hasn't yet been fully on this year apart some stages maybe. Sweden day 2 for example and monte's first stages and last one of course. He said that he was actually surprised that he won the fafe power stage in Portugal because he didn't give everything there.
#8 Ott Tänak - Martin Järveoja #8
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23rd May 2017, 19:21 #26
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Meeke will feel even more pressure now that Mikkelsen is in. And pressure for Meeke means more prone to errors.
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23rd May 2017, 19:22 #27
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I regret to say that even at 95% he crashes…like in Portugal. It’s true he managed to lead during first day, but he didn’t look the usual flat out Meeke. Stages times also indicate that he wasn’t able to take advantage from starting order. I’d love to think that the problem is at the car, but rationally we must believe that Breen isn’t yet at Meeke’s level, so the car surely worth more than P5. Really hoping Meeke manages to sort things out in Italy. He deserves better.
Rally addict since 1982
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23rd May 2017, 19:42 #28
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23rd May 2017, 21:49 #29
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#1. Crash in a left-hand corner while carrying too much speed.
#2. Could be setup problems, or trying too hard. + roll on a pre-event testing.
#3. Win, that almost ended in tears and a massive crash.
#4. Was doing really well, until the engine blew, could have been a perfect event, but who knows.
#5. again, 2x crashes, maybe a bit car-related but still...
#6. Mistake
And when you look at the past you can see a similar pattern. Great driver, absolutely capable of winning (an) event(s) but i dont`t think that he could take the championship.
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23rd May 2017, 22:52 #30
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he had that attitude back in 2009 when he was driving in the IRC.
it has been the same issue all the way through his career. just look at the stats at ewrc, he has a DNF percentage of 33%. pretty much double that of most wrc drivers.
https://www.ewrc-results.com/profile/70-kris-meeke/
a sega rally game tribute! just stop everything you are doing and watch. cant wait to put my hands on that. https://youtu.be/2XryAiKvO-o?feature=shared
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