Motorsport News Magazine 27th January 2016 Zurück Ausgabe

MEEKE STARS ON MONTE, BUT OGIER TAKES HAT-TRICK
Kris Meeke would have taken last week’s Monte Carlo Rally to the wire if it hadn’t been for the gearbox problem aboard his DS 3 WRC, according to Citroen team principal Yves Matton. Meeke, who was vying to become the first British driver since Vic Elford in 1968 to win in the French Alps, retired from the lead fight after a rock tore the sump guard off the bottom of his car and punched a hole in the gearbox. Leading at the end of the first day and through parts of Friday, Meeke was still chasing Sebastien Ogier when he was forced out after SS12. Matton pointed to Meeke’s tyre option for Sisteron as the final Saturday stage and said that would have helped cut the deficit to Ogier ahead of Sunday’s finale. Ogier was gracious in his appreciation of his rival’s early speed, balancing his many compliments with the news that he’d been slightly more cautious than normal through the event’s two dark stages.