Meeke thrills home crowds with fighting spirit

Posted: September 21, 2004 8:54 PM

The Northern Irish driver, who runs under the McRae Motorsport banner, was expected to figure at the front of the field, but his dreams looked to have been shattered when he suffered time-consuming electrical problems throughout the first day of the event.

But Meeke, who was co-driven by David Senior, refused to be bowed and showed tremendous spirit at the wheel of his privately-funded Team Palmer-run Opel Corsa by taking the fight to the works Suzuki and Renault teams on the second and third legs of the rally, once the Team Palmer engineers had identified and resolved the problems

Meeke stunned his opposition by relentlessly clawing back time, setting seven fastest times and never being out of the top 3 stage times over the next two days, to haul himself up the order and into second place by the rally finish. Although he had ultimately lost too much time to claim victory, he underlined his searing pace with a final flourish on the Cardiff Super Special , comfortably beating British rival Guy Wilks in the head-to head showdown, televised live on ITV.

"To take second after our earlier problems is a fantastic result, and also a testament to the work done by Team Palmer to get the car fixed," said Meeke "It was a great feeling to set the most fastest times in front of my home crowd, and an even better feeling to prove once again that we are the only private outfit capable of taking on - and beating - the works cars. It's such a confidence boost to know that we have the speed."

The result moves Meeke up to sixth in the championship standings, 12 points off the lead with two events to go. The next round of the championship is the Rally of Italy in Sardinia, on October 1-3.

"After starting the year on a high with third in Monte Carlo, it is great to get the season back on track," said Meeke. "I refuse to give up on my title chances until it is impossible for me to win it. I know I've got the speed and I've proved it again here - and in this championship anything can happen.

"Sardinia is going to be interesting because none of us have ever competed there before, but with my notes working so well it doesn't worry me at all. I am going there on a high and with one simple goal: to win the rally."