Citroen WRC drops Meeke after too many crashes

Citroen’s WRC team has dropped Kris Meeke and co-driver Paul Nagle because the pair have been involved in an “excessively high number of crashes”.

An unusually blunt statement released by the team yesterday evening, shortly after Meeke had posted a message on his Facebook page saying he was “looking forward to [Rally] Sardinia in a couple of weeks”, said some of the crashes “could have had serious consequences with regard to the crew’s safety, and given that the risks involved were unjustified by the sporting stakes at play”.

Boss of Citroen Racing Pierre Budar said: “This wasn’t an easy decision to make because it effects a driver and a co-driver, but it is largely founded on safety issues which come under my preoccupations as Team Principal. We have consequently chosen to make this decision as a preventive measure.”

The news comes less than a week after a particularly heavy off at Rally Portugal landed Meeke in hospital for a few hours. He’s yet to respond to Citroen’s statement.