Kris Meeke Rallying - Swansea Bay Festival Rally

Posted: July 24, 2001 7:35 AM

Kris commented before the rally “This is really going to be a very steep learning curve for me. I do not know how hard I will have to drive to be competitive here. There are plenty of other guys here with years of experience in the forests, but we’ll have to wait and see….”

Stage one saw the competitors tackle the longest stage of the rally, with over seventeen miles of treacherous terrain. Overnight rain had left the surface wet and slippery.

A clean run saw Kris slot into third position behind Mike Faulkner and Richard Sykes, only ten seconds from the lead. “I was genuinely surprised at our time. Gordon (Noble) suggested we take a cautious approach and that’s exactly what I did, maybe a little too cautious. I think we’ll attack the next stage a bit more to see what happens”.

Tower1 stage was a fast, flowing, thirteen mile stage which suited Kris’s driving style, a fact that translated to the time sheets. Kris set a stunning time, sixteen seconds quicker that Faulkner and ten seconds quicker than his nearest rival. “That was superb! I just got into a rhythm and loved every corner. The car feels 100%”.

Stages three and four seen Kris set a further two fastest stage times and stretched his lead to over thirteen seconds.
Before the last stage, Kris remained realistic... “It’s still very close. Thirteen seconds is not much of a margin and leaves no room for error. A good steady run is all we need”.
Kris remained cool, and took one second off the charging Faulkner, despite bursting a front shock absorber early in the stage.

Delighted after his win, Kris commented.. “The was the most enjoyable event I have ever done. Mike Faulkner set a rapid pace on the first stage, but I knew we had a bit left in reserve, so we decided to go for it”.

“It has been a difficult couple of months, and I’m just glad that I have been able to produce the goods. Hopefully this will go some way in justifying all the effort Gerry McGarrity has put in to getting the car ready, and to those people who have helped me along the way”.

“The R&M Williams Welsh Rally is the next event in three weeks time. It’s based at the Eypnt Military range, which apparently is a very tricky venue. Hopefully we can string a few good results together now, and start to mount a sustained Championship challenge. Six of the eight rounds count, so I think I know which two I’ll be dropping!”

Kris Meeke Rallying with
Kieran McAnallen, Stagetimes.com, Donnelly Bros., Micro-cam, Carsport, Finlay BME, Rogers Fencing Systems, Kelly’s Toyota Letterkenny, GMC Graphics, Furniture Direct Londonderry.