The WRC team of Citroen announced the firing of Kris Meeke and his co-pilot Paul Nagle, effective immediately, “due to an excessively high number of crashes”.
The news come after a rather violent crash at the Portugal rally which thankfully didn’t injure the crew but had Meeke airlifted to a hospital as a precautionary measure.
The worst part though is that Meeke didn’t seem to know about his firing as he posted a blog on his Facebook page, moments before Citroen made the announcement, on which he takes full responsibility for the crash and was “looking forward to Sardinia in a couple of weeks”.
The British driver’s partnership with Citroen lasted five years, during which Meeke won five rallies between 2015 and 2017.
“Due to an excessively high number of crashes, some of which were particularly heavy and could have had serious consequences with regard to the crew’s safety, and given that the risks involved were unjustified by the sporting stakes at play, Citroën Racing WRT has decided to terminate the participation of Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle in the 2018 WRC,” Citroen said in its statement.
Due to an excessively high number of crashes, some of which were particularly heavy, Citroën Racing WRT has decided to terminate the participation of Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle in the 2018 WRC. #WRC
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??https://t.co/EVdv30HQ6X pic.twitter.com/7tJINTAyso— Citroën Racing (@CitroenRacing) May 24, 2018
Citroen team principal Pierre Budar added that he had decided to change the team’s line-up on safety grounds.
“This wasn’t an easy decision to make because it effects a driver and a co-driver, but it is largely founded on safety issues which come under my preoccupations as Team Principal. We have consequently chosen to make this decision as a preventive measure,” Budar said.