Q&A: Kris Meeke - 3 Mar 2010

Kris Meeke, the 2009 Intercontinental Rally Challenge champion, discusses his title-winning season and his hopes for this year.

What did winning the IRC title in your first full season mean to you?
“It was just incredible, really satisfying, but immediately the hunger set in again and you started to think about your next event. It never really changed me at all and hopefully it stays that way. Some time way, way in the future you can look back and it might be different. But if you look back now the fear is you might get a bit complacent.”

You must have felt more in demand after such a strong year?
“The biggest shock to the system was the approaches from other teams trying to get your services. For eight years of my career I’d always been sitting down trying to convince people to get behind me – something that you strive for all your life – and all of a sudden it’s turned around. That was satisfying, but I’m totally aware that you’re only as good as your last result. I know how quickly things can change again. It’s a nice feeling but I’ll keep a lid on it. I haven’t reached my ultimate goal, which is to be world rally champion. Whether that happens or not I don’t know, or whether I’ll even get an opportunity I don’t know but even winning the IRC was way beyond something I thought would ever happen at the start.”

How did you keep your feet on the ground?
“For me it was more the people around me, like my brother and a few of the guys that travelled with me to events. There’s no question that they keep your feet on the ground, but you’re so focused on the rally and then when you get out of the rally car and you’ve got your friends around you, you chat about anything. There was no definitely no chance of getting starry-eyed. I know that a big part of last year came from my own developing maturity and being more settled in my home life. It’s a combination of things, but long may it continue. Hopefully we’ve hit on something now and we just have to try to carry it forward and redouble our efforts to keep our focus on what gave us the successes last year.”

So it’s going to be five wins in 2010?
“For sure! We have to try and keep the momentum going and rack up some more victories with Peugeot.”

Was sticking with Peugeot the right thing to do?
“For me yes. I had a firm offer on the table from Škoda and I had an offer on the table from Peugeot and we just took our time to decide. But for me it was definitely the right way to go. The opportunities they gave us last year to be involved in the testing, the collaboration with Kronos Racing and Marc van Dalen was just incredible. Everyone talks about the other cars getting stronger and the 207 becoming older but it’s still capable and I know Peugeot Sport are giving me the commitment that they will push like hell to do what they can to stay at the front. Without their support as well it would probably have been a different decision.”

When did you start thinking the title was a realistic possibility last year?
“In Brazil, something clicked, and I think the biggest time when something clicked was day two, when we started to figure out how to manage a lead.”

Was it hard to withstand the pressure of leading the championship for such a long time?
“You have to think that you’ve done the best job that day and that you can go out and do the best job the next day too. It’s the other guys who have to raise their game in that situation. If you stay constant, they’re going to have to raise their game, which means they’ve got more of a chance of making a mistake than you, so we just have to try to divert they pressure. Azores was a big one last year where a mini-hurricane came in, with thick fog and heavy rain and we had a 45-50s lead. To try to manage the lead in those conditions was quite difficult, but when we came through that, then we knew everything was starting to gel.”

You left Monte last year with no points yet still won the championship. You also crashed on the Monte this year so can you take any inspiration from what happened in 2009?
“I take some inspiration that we were able to still win the championship last year despite not scoring points on this rally. It was my target to change that this year so we’d get more of an advantage leaving here. But we’re fortunate that we have a commitment from Peugeot UK that we’re doing all of the rallies if need be so with seven rounds counting we’re still very much in the hunt.”

Are you under pressure to deliver now following your retirement on the Monte?
“I never put that kind of pressure on myself. Monte was a pure Monte accident and it doesn’t happen anywhere else. I’m not going to Brazil with the Monte crash at the back of my mind.”

So what are the chances of a repeat win in Curitiba?
“The plan for sure is to try and repeat my win but it will not be easy. The competition will be stronger with Juho Hänninen, Jan Kopecký and Guy Wilks. I’ve no doubts in my mind how tough it will be.”