Impromptu Parking Lot Slalom Leads to Incredible WRC Victory
In the world of motorsport the World Rally Championship reigns supreme as the event with the most unbelievable crashes and saves. While I don’t want to diminish touring car racing’s ability to mix it up or Formula One’s high-speed, explosive launching of cars, WRC is the only sport that routinely has drivers flying off the track and through obstacles only to return and finish the race — often missing a tire and half of their vehicle’s bodywork.
On the final stage of Rally Mexico, Citroën’s Kris Meeke hit an unexpected bump and took a Sunday drive off the course and into a parking lot, destroying the rear end of a Volkswagen in the process. After avoiding a group of bystanders, he then proceeded to fling the car around some of the most willy-nilly parking I’ve ever seen, return to the track, and win the race by a sizable margin.
Thankfully, the VW CC clipped by the Citroën C3 was one of only a handful of cars that seemed to be parked correctly. Had it been left even a foot to the right, Meeke and co-driver Paul Nagle would have found themselves inside the trunk. After the race, Meeke announced to television cameras, “I’m a lucky boy. I’m a lucky, lucky, boy.”
Luck had nothing to do with the fancy footwork after going off course, though. Even after that major setback and puncturing a tire, the C3 finished 13.8 seconds ahead of WRC legend Sébastien Ogier. The two men had no idea. After crossing the finish line, an understandably flustered Nagle told Meeke “We lost it,” before seeing their official posted time.
Although, let’s not kid ourselves, Sébastien will probably still take the championship for a fifth consecutive year.
[Image: World Rally Championship]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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Heh, that's exactly how some valets park your car. :P
"Flat crest jump, and flat six left in 150. Hair line tight shot. Five eight crossover into 120 you need this tight. And line wide tightest of all. Double tighter Jesus Christ Kris oh no! How are we gonna get out of here?"* *All words approximate. Good demonstration of how to not roll a vehicle. He was going off the road regardless, so he just stabilized the car and accepted the new path instead of fighting it.