Citroen yet to decide on fielding Meeke in Catalunya
Yves Matton is yet to decide whether Kris Meeke will race in the next WRC round Rally Catalunya or not, but said his early exit from Rally Germany will not alter Citroen's approach to team selection.
Kris Meeke, Paul Nagle, Citroën C3 WRC, Citroën World Rally Team
Citroën Communication
Meeke broke the suspension on his Citroen C3 on Thursday night's opening spectator stage in Saarbrucken.
Unable to get the stricken Citroen out of the stage, he was forced to start Day 1 proper with a 10-minute penalty, ruining his chances in the rally.
Meeke later retired for good with a cooling problem aboard the car.
Citroen benched the Northern Irishman for Rally Poland at the end of June and he has subsequently struggled to find the sort of form which helped him win Rally Mexico and dominate Corsica earlier in the season.
Asked whether Meeke would be in the car for the next WRC qualifier in Spain next month, Citroen team principal Matton told Motorsport.com: "We don’t tell who will be in Spain. The only driver we confirm will be Stephane [Lefebvre].
"But this is not different from what we say before the rally. I don’t say he [Meeke] won’t be there.
"Before the start of this rally we decide to take the time to nominate our drivers until September 5 – what has happened here does not change that."
Matton rues "stupid stage" for Meeke crash
Matton admitted there was also some degree of sympathy for his driver, given the narrow nature of the stage which caught him out in the centre of Saarbrucken city.
"Kris said himself he made stupid mistakes, these were his words," said Matton, "but I have to say it was a stupid stage.
"If it was not Kris [making the mistake] then it could have been somebody behind him. We can see how narrow this stage is when we see you need a narrow R5 car to be fastest (Jan Kopecky won the street test in a Skoda Fabia R5).
"It’s always disappointing to lose a car like that, but the situation was abnormal [because of the nature of the stage].
"I am much more frustrated that this mistake didn’t allow him to do his proper rally. When you come in tricky conditions [after what happened], it’s difficult to have the motivation and to take the risk when you know it will bring you nothing."
Matton added that the final decision on Meeke’s future would lie with the "top management" which Motorsport.com understands to be PSA Peugeot Citroen CEO Carlos Tavares.
Andreas Mikkelsen made the most of a third opportunity to drive for Citroen Racing, with the Norwegian hoping his second place will be enough to keep him in a World Rally Car for the rest of the season.
Mikkelsen’s management team insist Citroen is not the only option, hinting that outings with Toyota and Hyundai remain a possibility in Spain, GB and Australia.
Sebastien Loeb remains a rank outsider for a WRC return, although Matton did confirm he wanted to see the nine-time champion test a C3 WRC on gravel.
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