WRC: Meeke crashed at shakedown, maybe will not start the rally
Citroen’s Irishman Kris Meeke maybe will not start Rally Poland later today because of heavy crash at shakedown stage this morning. Meeke rolled his DS3 WRC at 3,7-km gravel stage on which before that he passed four times and posted sixth fastest time of 14 drivers.
“I was just 100 metres into the stage on a flat-left, fourth gear corner. I was on the line and the car launched into the air and rolled. I had been completely flat through that corner every time before. The ruts were getting deeper but it caught me by surprise and the car went over and landed on the bonnet,” Meeke said.
Car must be checked by FIA officials and if they find some damage on the safety roll cage Meek will not start rally. First special stage Arena Mikolajki is scheduled for 19.05.
Other 13 drivers in WRC cars didn’t have a problems, fastest was world champion Sebastien Ogier in Volkswagen Polo R WRC. He set the time 1.39.1, half a second fastest then three drivers who share second place – Robert Kubica, Jari-Matti Latvala and Andreas Mikkelsen.
“It was a really fast road, maybe only five braking points in the whole stage. It was fairly representative of the rally and good to get an accurate feeling for the speed we’ll see over the next three days,” said Ogier after shakedown.