Sanremo victory crowns champion year for Meeke
27.9.2009 von Wolfgang.
Kris Meeke has claimed the 2009 Intercontinental Rally Challenge title in fine style, with victory on this weekend’s Rallye Sanremo.
The Peugeot UK driver fought back from fourth place overnight to take the lead on the final morning in the mountains on the Italian Riviera. Despite the pounding given to his brakes on the twisting asphalt stages, he prevailed for his fourth win of the season to become the first British driver to win the IRC.
“We never could have expected this to happen,” said a slightly disbelieving Meeke as he crossed the line. “There’s so many people I have to thank for the opportunity, I’m only one link in the chain and there’s a long chain of people who helped make it happen and without any one of the them the chain would have been broken.”
The rally began with Meeke just one point ahead of Czech ace Jan Kopecky in the works Skoda Fabia S2000. Kopecky got off to a flying start to win the first stage, but then crashed in the middle of the second stage and suffered irreparable suspension damage.
This left the way clear for a major battle for honours between two Italian drivers – the works Abarth Grande Punto S2000 of Luca Rossetti and the Peugeot 207 S2000 of Paolo Andreucci – while Meeke suffered from overheating brakes in fourth place.
At the overnight halt Andreucci held a slender advantage while Rossetti was unable to get the car handling how he wanted it to. At the start of the final day, however, Rossetti was far happier in his car while Andreucci’s Pirelli tyres – unique among the front-runners – struggled for grip and left him fighting a defensive battle for the rest of the rally.
Meeke, meanwhile, had started the second day in a champion’s style, winning the first stage by 10 seconds and the second stage by a further 8.3 seconds. On the final stage of the morning he lost 10 seconds after more brake trouble and a nervous time was had at the service halt.
“The opening night’s stages were interesting to say the least, then it all just clicked and I got a rhythm,” Meeke said. “The pacenotes were inch-perfect and I honestly couldn’t believe the times!
“I had a few troubles with the brakes on the second stage this morning,” he explained. “I was able to drain it while driving to the next stage, but I couldn’t put all the fluid back because of a defective pipe so we had next to no brakes at all – but fortunately it was short and up-hill!”
While Rossetti was able to regain ground on Meeke through the short stage, last year’s IRC champion Nicolas Vouilloz was unable to capitalise in his Peugeot Benelux-entered 207 S2000. A puncture on the first stage of the day cost him time that blunted his challenge for victory, and passed the initiative to team-mate Freddy Loix in their battle for third place in the overall points.
Both Vouilloz and Meeke recovered their earlier pace on the penultimate stage, however. Meeke extended his lead once again and Vouilloz reclaimed third position from the struggling Andreucci, but then lost ground to local man Roberto Travaglia who just edged him into fourth place at the finish by 0.4 seconds.
In a dramatic twist, Travaglia then incurred a 30 second time penalty on the road, dropping him to sixth and promoting Vouilloz back to the podium=
www.rally-irc.com
Andy Soucek Q&A
27.9.2009 von Wolfgang.
A third place finish in race one at Imola last Saturday (19 September) secured the FIA Formula Two Championship title for Andy Soucek, and the Spaniard went on to celebrate his achievement in style by storming to his fifth victory of the season in race two. Speaking to www.formulatwo.com, the newly crowned champion reflects on a fantastic campaign in F2 and talks about his burning Formula One ambition…
You’ve had a few days to reflect on the weekend; how does it feel to be the 2009 FIA Formula Two Champion?
It feels great! It has been a very special season, the best of my career. I not only won the championship, but I won with a good margin, and I have to be proud of everything I achieved. Hopefully it will open new doors for me: already a lot of people in the world of Formula One know me better than before, and the news has travelled around the world. No-one will ever be able to take away my title in Formula Two, and I will be able to look back on this for the rest of my career.
What are your hopes for F1?
I’m very positive that my dream can become true. I just feel like I’m at the right moment – I’m in the right place and with the right people, and this is my big chance, my dream. It doesn’t mean that I will get my chance for sure, but for me this is the right moment.
Things have changed quite a lot since F2 last ran in 1984, but F2 is still a category where young drivers can get themselves into Formula One. I know back then every champion progressed into F1, so I’m hoping to continue the trend as the first winner of the new series. I had a great championship, scored a lot of points, and brought the car home in almost every race. I think F1 teams look not only at the winner of every championship but also at the most complete driver. That’s why I think I’m in the right moment and I’ve showed it this year. It was not only the number of races I won, it was my consistency at the front that made it such a great year for me, and I think I can have similar success in F1 as well.
How did you feel about the video message you received from Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head congratulating you on your success?
It was incredibly emotional. I’m a realistic and humble person, and I really never expected to have a Formula One team boss – let alone such an important one, because he is one of the most successful ever - like Sir Frank Williams or Patrick Head giving me a message saying that they hope I can achieve my dreams of going into Formula One. It really was like a dream seeing that; it was very emotional, and something I will never forget. Hopefully they are right in what they said!
What will you do to prepare for your test with Williams later this year?
I’m very well prepared now. I started to train my neck as soon as I got back from Imola, because I think that is the one part of my body where the g-forces are different in F1. They have steering assistance, so there won’t be too much force on my arms, but you need a strong neck for sure. I hope to be in peak physical condition for the test, but I have never stopped training and I am fitter than ever so I don’t see it being an issue.
Have you had any contact with other F1 teams?
Whilst we are not currently in negotiations with any other teams in F1, we are in contact with a few and I think that will probably intensify in the next few weeks. First we have to digest winning the F2 title, and then we will have to make a plan of which teams will be good for me and for my career, if they are interested, and work these things out. I know Adrian (Campos) from a lot of years ago and for sure I would be very happy to race for them, a Spanish team, but we are looking at other options as well.
How does this season compare to the rest of your career?
I think this was the best season, because now I am much more complete as a driver. I remember other great seasons like Spanish Formula 3, when I won the championship, and also World Series by Renault when I was challenging for the championship in the final weekend. I think I became a better driver when I moved into GP2 because I gained maturity and experience, but this year I think I have come on even more – everything just clicked and I feel very confident in myself.
Was there a weekend when it all came together this season, or was it a gradual process?
I think I was a bit unlucky in the first weekend in Valencia, but I think I was also a bit over motivated and was expecting to win at my home race, especially after running so well in testing. To be honest perhaps it was a bit of a surprise to have Robert Wickens in such good shape for that weekend - I really expected more and it was kind of a bad weekend for me. For the rest of the season though, really starting from the second race in Brno, everything has been pretty much perfect.
Does winning the championship vindicate your decision to race in Formula Two this year?
Absolutely. It was a group decision I made with my manager and my father to move into Formula Two. It wasn’t just the relatively low cost of competing, but the backing of the FIA, the prize of a test drive with Williams – the combination of all of these things made it a great championship to join. At the start we imagined the best scenario would be to win, but I haven’t just done that, I won it by distinction and that has made it very special. We also really believed in Jonathan Palmer and had heard a lot of good things about him. At the end of the day Formula Two has given me the opportunity to prove my potential in Formula One machinery with Williams, so it was exactly the right decision for me to have made.
How does the level of competition in F2 compare to that of a series like GP2?
I have always said that the drivers in F2 improve with every race, so I had to make sure I was doing the same otherwise I would lose ground. In that sense the level of competition is very high, and I had to become better and better in order to stay at the front, which has helped me as a driver. The car is very strong, with paddleshift gears, very good brakes and a powerful engine, so it’s good training. There are some young guys who have really improved recently, so it keeps getting harder.
www.formulatwo.com
