It was a bitter blow for the Ulsterman, especially as he had posted the quickest time in SS3 to move up to third place overall, and while he was able to re-join on Saturday under Rally 2, finishing 16th, it wasn’t much consolation.
“Here I wanted to put things right, but did exactly the opposite. The consistency is not there – something is missing. That is extremely disappointing,” Meeke said at the finish.
“I am used to working a lot between rallies and I am probably going to have to take a step back now before heading for Argentina [the next event],” he added.
“I will do a reset to try and give my season a fresh start!”
Asked about his off on Friday, Meeke said it was his own fault and that he had just misjudged the speed.
“I just braked too late into a fast right, which was followed by a tight left,” he explained on his personal website. “We got off line and just could not get it back, so we never made the left-hander.
“We clipped a rock on the outside and that was it. I am at a bit of a loss to explain it. The road was slippery, but I was just too late on the brakes. The specific goal was to not make a mistake, so I am really angry with myself,” concluded the Citroen driver.