Meeke counts the cost of mistakes

Citroen’s Kris Meeke admits he must cut out the errors that have cost strong results in the opening two rounds of the FIA World Rally Championship.

He lost more than three minutes after two opening leg spins into the snow at last weekend’s Rally Sweden. He eventually finished seventh after a determined final stage bid to catch Elfyn Evans ended with another excursion.

They followed a mistake on the second day of Rallye Monte-Carlo when Meeke broke the rear suspension of his DS 3 and plunged from fourth to an eventual 10th.

“Too many mistakes, exactly what I didn’t need,” said Meeke. “In Sweden it’s a fine line and there are always snow banks to catch you out. You have to be very clean with your driving and I got caught out two or three times. It’s not so good.

“We have to learn to eliminate those mistakes and finish with no errors, it’s simple,” added Meeke.

The Northern Ireland driver has won stages in both rallies and was encouraged by his pace on the championship’s only pure winter event.

“The speed is not the problem, we don’t have to look for that. To go to Sweden for only the second time and to be able to do fastest times is encouraging. My level has increased a huge amount since last year and my natural rhythm is so much higher. It feels comfortable, but the little spins…” he said.