Test crash puts Meeke out of Rally Estonia

Kris Meeke has been forced to can his planned entry on Rally Estonia this week following a crash during a test for Neste Oil Rally Finland.

The MINI WRC Team star was using the Baltic event to prepare for round eight of the World Rally Championship.

A statement from the event organisers said: “The decision has been taken following an accident during the first of three days of testing in preparation for Rally Finland. While the team was able to make repairs to the car that allowed it to continue the test, it was felt best that the car was returned to the UK for a full evaluation and bodyshell repair in readiness for its next test.

“There was damage to the suspension turrets but not to the roll cage, which is why the car could be safely repaired on the test. However, the car needs to be returned to the bodyshop in Banbury [the team’s base in the United Kingdom] for a full repair and alignment check on the jig.”

Meeke, 32, lost four hours of running while the car was repaired after he hit a rock and ripped the left-front wheel off his John Cooper Works WRC test car.

“It’s nothing to worry about, it was one of those things,” said Meeke. “I ran slightly wide out of a corner, like three inches wider than I’d been before or something like that and then I hit a big rock buried in the grass. It’s unfortunate that this happened on the first day of our test, but it won’t have any effect at all on my performance during the rally.”

Briton Meeke hasn’t competed in Finland since 2006, but he has tackled the event four times in his career. “What happened in the test was a good reminder for me what can happen in Finland,” he said. “Finland can bite you, but I’m glad I learned this lesson now and not on the first stage of the event.”

Meeke continued running after the car was repaired, before handing the John Cooper Works WRC over to his Spanish team-mate Dani Sordo for two days.