Meeke excited by Finland WRC return

Kris Meeke says he’s itching to get back behind the wheel of his MINI John Cooper Works WRC.

The Briton, who turned 32 last week, hasn’t competed in the world championship since helping to give the Prodrive-developed machine an impressive debut on Rally Italia Sardegna in early May.

His next scheduled WRC appearance is Neste Oil Rally Finland, which takes place in Jyvaskyla from 28-30 July.

“There’s been a three-month gap between Sardinia and Finland,” said Meeke, who will be co-driven in Finland by regular navigator Paul Nagle. “But once Finland starts, we’re doing five from the last six rallies - I just can’t wait to get going again.”

Meeke and team-mate Dani Sordo are about to embark on a pre-event test in Finland while Meeke will also take part on a practice event, Rally Estonia, from 15-16 July, which Meeke has said is a “brilliant way to get back into the car again.”

Although Meeke will be a favourite for victory in Estonia, the MINI WRC Team insists winning the rally is the last thing on its mind.

“Kris didn’t get a huge amount of gravel mileage in Sardinia [due to a throttle problem] so we’re going to give him some extra [running] in Estonia,” said Prodrive’s Richard Taylor. “The test car that does the Finland test will then go on to do the rally so we’re doing it with the test car. There is certainly no attempt to win the rally outright, it’s a test.”

Meeke is optimistic for the second half of the season following tests on gravel and asphalt. He said: “We believe now we have a complete package. We’re turning up at the tests and getting quickly into the nitty-gritty, we’re not hitting any small problems which would slow us down.”