Prodrive Mini WRC

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Originally Posted by manta400

well said, im from Northern Ireland and was gutted to hear the news, he needed a bit of consistency and he would have been a winner. it was a massive PR disaster for the Monte

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I dont think the Pr matters much, the WRC has no profile beyond a shrinking number of fans in the UK and Ireland, it is a huge disappointment to us fans but I dont believe this all will cost BMW any car sales at all, if I were in a position to buy a BMW 1 series M coupe I'd still jump at the chance.

I like Meeke, he is proper quick, all he has achieved has been on the back of his talent but I do think he should have worked harder at self promotion beyond the sport, today sponsorship is often tied to public profile as much as to results and talent, he has talent and some great results but he is invisible in the beyond rally circles.
I dont have answers to what he should have done better, and he isnt alone in his lack of profile, its an accusation could be made of nearly all WRC drivers at the moment other than the Solberg brothers

At least a few more will know who Meeke was after this.

James May Vs British Gold Medalist - Top Gear - Series 17 Episode 1 - BBC Two - YouTube

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Originally Posted by SubaruNorway

At least a few more will know who Meeke was after this.

James May Vs British Gold Medalist - Top Gear - Series 17 Episode 1 - BBC Two - YouTube

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if you see the full version of the show Clarkson was a total prick(not unusual for him) and totally blanked Meeke in the interview, this was a good effort by Meeke and Mini but it didnt work great for Meeke IMHO

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Originally Posted by Mintexmemory

Nothing changed, they didn't have a budget for 2012 at the start and that remained the situation. They left the announcement so late that the driver musical chairs had ended for next season leaving KM without a drive.

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Or maybe they wanted to run Meeke full-time alongside Sordo and tried to get the budget together so that he could drive, and simply left it until the last minute because they were still scraping funds together. It's not like they realised they would not have the budget to compete two months ago and just decided not to tell anyone.

They ran out of money after Rally France.

One can ask how much money Meeke did put in himself in MINI, just to be sacked too early. I´ve heard rumours (old ones now) that PG refused a deal with Mini back in augist 2010 just because the uncertainty of Mini´s financial strength.

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Originally Posted by Rallyper

One can ask how much money Meeke did put in himself in MINI, just to be sacked too early. I´ve heard rumours (old ones now) that PG refused a deal with Mini back in augist 2010 just because the uncertainty of Mini´s financial strength.

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Meeke was employed, why would he put money in it? He didn't buy the seat. If you knew Meeke's history money has never been available.

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Originally Posted by noel157

Meeke was employed, why would he put money in it? He didn't buy the seat. If you knew Meeke's history money has never been available.

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That´s good; no economical harm for Meeke in this case then. But easier to sack him as well. I feel sorry for him of course. I think there´s been said many things between the lines in Prodrive and BMW´s businees partnership which never been official. HAving said that I think BMW should reconsider their engagement in WRC. They are needed there as well as in DTM.

Maybe Kris would be a better driver in the Proton,than Alister is.I know it's not in the same league,of car but a drive is better than NO drive,and he is no slouch !

Here are some of my thoughts on the Meek-Mini-Prodrive situation:

I think Meeke would be at Monte Carlo is he had a big backer or maybe a few more than the ones he has. Perhaps Red Bull or Codemasters could have make an investment into him.

I also feel that as he crashed quite a bit Mini-Prodrive lost a bit of patience with him, whereas Sordo (who may not be at the team long term) did complete most of the rallies and brought home alot more technical; data than Meeke so on balance it would be wrong to punish Sordo in favor of Meeke if they only has one car.

Other issues that could have been a factor include North One Sport and the clown in charge there, BMW worried about the controversy that could have emerged. Also Richards probably was not able to find a third party of join up with them; earlier in the year several of his press releases referred to Prodrive gaining more autonomy from BMW.

I expect that BMW would have like a win in 2011 and reduced funding as a performance incentive.

Does anyone know if Meeke will be allowed to do the shakedowns of all events this year, he and Dani actually did every event in this way in 2011. If this is the case and Meeke does get the full time drive in 2013 his chances of winning a title will not be reduced as much because he will have experience on the wide variety of roads offered in the season.

I think if Meeke does any rallies this year they will not be in a top spec car as Prodrive will want to flatter the gentleman drivers as much as possible. I have nothing but contempt for all the driver who will be in the #52 car as they have not earned the right. I expect Paddon may be offered it in NZ if they attend the event.

Maybe Meeke can look beyond 2012 and try and find a team that will buy him out of his current contract. Otherwise I can't see him amounting to much more than what he was at Citroen ie, the talent was there but his wallet was not fat enough and he did not have the right passport.

I hope I am wrong on that last point.

By the way, can we start a Meeke thread??? He is an interesting driver and I think there will be alot to discuss about him in the months ahead.