Kris Meeke leads S1600 British Rally Championship.

Posted: July 7, 2003 11:04 PM

Kris Meeke put in a stunning performance of speed and consistency to win the S1600 category of the 33rd Jim Clark Memorial Rally (4-6th July), third round of the British Rally Championship.

After two short super specials in Edinburgh on Saturday night, Kris had edged out a small advantage over championship leader Gwyndaf Evans in the MG, with the works Peugeot 206 of Gary Jennings in third. "It was nice to keep Gwyndaf at bay tonight." commented Kris. "I am looking forward to some proper stages tomorrow to see what the car can do, but the initial impressions are very good."

Following the overnight halt, the competitors headed off for over 100 miles of closed road competition. With light rain falling and the most of the crews opting for slick tyres, Kris was 'hot on the heels' of Gwyndaf Evans, the pair only separated by 0.3s after 5 stages, with other S1600 hopefuls, Leon Pesticcio, Ryan Champion and Jennings a further minute back.

"We have settled on a pace in the wet, and I am happy with that. We have a bit left in reserve if needed, but it couldn't be much closer at the top. This is the first time in the Corsa on tarmac, and its fantastic. I have real confidence in the cars' performance, and very stable over the jumps, so no real problems." said Kris.

The next stage out of service at Duns, Gwyndaf Evans, in the works supported MG crashed out of the rally. With a lead of well over a minute, Kris settled into a pace that was enough to maintain his concentration and sustain the gap from the other S1600 contenders.

The rest of the 2003 Jim Clark Memorial Rally ran like clockwork for the team. Sunday's stages were dry and Kris brought Pirelli supported Opel Corsa home for a convincing win.

At the finishing ramp, Ocean terminal, Edinburgh, Kris was delighted, "This has been a fantastic rally. Everything has worked really well, and the Corsa has been terrific. The Team Palmer mechanics and management turned out an immaculate car, and it's a tribute to them that it ran faultlessly all weekend."

"Even with a comfortable lead, we had 15 fastest stage times in S1600, and regularly in the overall top 10. We knew the car worked well on gravel, but we proved a point here this weekend. With a 10 point lead of the British S1600 championship and are looking forward to the next event."

• Jim Clark Rally

  ---

  Kris Meeke - Scottish Rally
  
  The 58th Scottish International Rally was the second round of the British Rally Championship and the crews were welcomed by two amazing days of sunshine in the host town of Dumfries.
  
  Kris Meeke in the Team Palmer Opel, was in determined mood after his setback in Greece, where the Corsa suffered steering damage on the very first stage of the event. The Scottish stages have treated Kris well in the past; with a S1600 win last year and two outright wins on the similar roads of the Galloway Hills Rally, so a good result was in order.
  
  Gwyndaf Evans in the works supported MG was always going to be the benchmark for Kris and co-driver Chris Patterson, and after the first stage on Saturday morning, there was little doubt that it was going to be a close battle with the former British Champion. Only 2.5s seconds separated the pair after 14 miles, with fellow Junior World Championship contender Micro Baldicci only 3 seconds adrift.
  
  With the duo still neck and neck, Kris capitalised on a slow rear puncture on the MG of Gwyndaf Evans, to set a time 18s quicker than anyone else and consequently jumped into the S1600 lead and 5th overall. On the next stage it was Kris's turn to suffer some bad luck, when he hit some bed-rock and immediately got a front puncture. With 9 miles still to run, the crew decided it would be better to continue to the end, rather than change the puncture mid-stage, to minimise the time loss. Almost a full minute was lost to Evans on that stage alone, and the Team Palmer crew finished the day 2nd S1600, 46 seconds adrift of the lead.
  
  "Today has been awesome. The stages are in fantastic condition, and very fast. The Opel ran faultlessly today and has worked really well, although we will experiment with a new damper set-up in the morning. It's been nip and tuck with Gwyndaf all day, and only for both of us suffering punctures it would have made for a tremendous battle tomorrow". said Kris. "To make up 46 seconds on Gwyndaf is almost impossible, but we will 'give it a rattle' in the morning to see if we can keep the pressure on."
  
  First stage out on Sunday morning, Kris was fastest by 2.5 seconds from Gwyndaf Evans, and 14 seconds up on Simon Hughes in the Renault. Although the opening charge closed the gap to the MG, with only 6 stages remaining, the crew were fast running out of mileage to reel in the Welshman.
  
  "We tried hard on the first stage the morning, and so did Gwyndaf by the looks of things. We were determined to attack him over the 18 mile Grentrool stage, but were hampered by a damaged fuel injector, which meant the engine running on 3 cylinders for the last two stages" said Kris. Despite dropping almost another minute with the problem, Kris still managed to hold on to 2nd place.
  
  "It's a credit to the Opel Team Palmer guys. There have worked really hard to get the car ready for this event after the Acropolis Rally, and hopefully this result will be a sign of things to come."

  
  1  Gwyndaf Evans  / Claire Mole  GB/GB  MG ZR     1:35:57.1
  2  Kris Meeke  / Chris Patterson  GB/GB  Vauxhall Corsa   +1:55.3
  3  Mirco Baldacci  / Simone Scattolin  RSM/I  Fiat Punto   +2:38.5
  4  Garry Jennings  / Gordon Noble  GB/GB  Peugeot 206 XS   +3:39.4
  5  Ryan Champion /  Cliff Simmons  GB/GB  Ford Puma  +6:42.7
  6  Leon Pesticcio  / Tim Sturla  GB/GB  Fiat Punto  +7.34
  

  The result now means that Kris has moved into second in the British Super 1600 Drivers Championship, and has now two maximum scores in the British Junior Drivers.
  • www.krismeeke.com
  • www.teampalmer.co.uk