Meeke faces FIA probe after dramatic final stage

Published on Sunday 22 November 2009 23:18

THE imposing statue of Robert the Bruce amid torrential rain created an ideal focus for Scots rally fans on the esplanade of Stirling Castle.

The fireworks on show for the finish of the inaugural RallyScotland were more than matched by those on the tracks.

Despite almost 72 hours of incessant rain, the final round of the Intercontinental Rally Championship – the biggest motorsport event to be held in Scotland for more than 20 years put the country back on the motorsport's world stage. But hours after IRC champ Kris Meeke celebrated his fifth win of the season, the 30-year-old from Dungannon learned that the result was in doubt, after rally scrutineers – the independent engineers who ensure that raced cars have complied with all the technical regulations – had placed his Peugeot 207 S2000 under investigation for a possible infringement.

Though the result of the TW Steel-backed rally was made 'final', the provision remains that Meeke could be stripped of his win.

Such action, though, would not deny him the championship which he clinched in the previous round in San Remo. The concern surrounds the car's front cross member, which is rumoured to be under weight. The component will now be examined by the world motorsport body, the FIA in Paris, before an official decision is made in a couple of weeks.

Meeke, who dedicated his victory to his mentor, former world rally champ Colin McRae, had earlier found himself being congratulated on his victory by Alister McRae and Darlington's Guy Wilks above Loch Ard.

The three-day event had been poised for a nailbiting conclusion as Meeke entered the final stage defending a slender 20.7-second advantage over Wilks' Skoda.

Seven miles into the final 22-mile stage, though, Wilks hurtled round a corner to be confronted by the unexpected sight of McRae's Proton S2000, sitting stationary ahead of him.

The Lanark driver's bright yellow car, hazard lights piercing through the falling gloom, signalled the premature end of the stage and the event.

What Wilks could not see, or Meeke, who parked up behind him, was that David Bogie of Dumfries, the 2009 Scottish champion, had spectacularly rolled his Mitsubishi some way ahead. The car came to a halt straddling the forest track with a cliff face on one side and a 100-foot drop on the other. No one could squeeze past and so the stage was halted, meaning the positions at the start of the stage became final.

Later as Meeke, Wilks and third-placed McRae celebrated on the podium at Stirling Castle, the clerk of the course, Iain Campbell, contented himself with a job well done.

"I think the event is a credit to the army of volunteers and marshals who have been out in all weathers to ensure the pre-event test, the recce and the event itself has run faultlessly," he explained.

"They, the thousands of spectators and especially the drivers, have all come back in smiling. We couldn't ask for more."