As Jari-Matti Latvala scored a stunning Rally Sweden victory for the new Gazoo Toyota team, Dungannon’s Kris Meeke was left frustrated and dejected, asserting: “We have work to do.” It was a view echoed by team-mate Craig Breen as, for the second rally in a row, Citroen’s new C3 struggled to match the pace and the poise of not just Toyota but Ford and Hyundai as well. They didn’t say as much but it was clear Meeke and Breen again found the more powerful C3 difficult to drive, its unsteadiness over sudden bumps sending them both off the road and into snowbanks.
It sapped Breen’s confidence and he eased back to ensure a solid fifth place finish but Meeke dropped to 12th after being stranded in the trees for eight minutes during the Saturday leg although he finished strongly with fourth place and two points on the final Power Stage.
Explaining his Saturday excursion into the trees, Meeke said: “I was really struggling to keep the rear in line and I was conscious of that and trying not to do anything stupid. But as I went over a slight right corner over a crest the rear stepped out and I went completely 90 degrees to the road on an entry to a left-hander so I couldn’t make the corner.
“But we take every kilometre to try and learn and we have work to do before the next round in Mexico.”
Breen was equally perplexed. “I struggled to get a feel with the rear of the car. I couldn’t keep it in line and it gave me a lot of frights. On some stages it wasn’t so bad but on others it would catch you by surprise,” he said.