1. Kris Meeke was born on 2 July 1979 and is a British professional rally driver from Northern Ireland, best known for competing in the FIA World Rally Championship.
44 Facts About Kris Meeke
1. 2.
Kris Meeke began his career as a Computer Aided Designer with M-Sport, at the headquarters of the Ford World Rally Team, before moving on to competing in the Peugeot Super 106 Cup in 2001.
3.
In 2011, Meeke debuted in the World Rally Championship driving a MINI for Prodrive.
4.
Kris Meeke, son of rally engineer Sydney Kris Meeke, was born in Dungannon, Northern Ireland and educated at the Royal School Dungannon.
5.
Kris Meeke later went on to study at Queen's University, Belfast, where he obtained a degree in mechanical engineering.
6.
Kris Meeke initially worked for M-Sport as a computer aided designer.
7.
Kris Meeke took his first step into rallying in 2000, when he won a Peugeot competition for new rally drivers.
8.
In early 2002, Kris Meeke's career was boosted when he was taken under the wing of the late Colin McRae and contested the British Junior Championship in a Ford Puma.
9.
Kris Meeke made an impressive debut setting the fastest time on two of the final leg stages however a string of minor problems dropped Meeke down the order.
10.
Kris Meeke retired in the next rally and a potential second-place finish in Italy was lost after a crash.
11.
Kris Meeke kicked the 2004 season off in style by finishing 3rd in class in the Rally of Monte Carlo.
12.
Kris Meeke then took part in the British S1600 event in Wales as a shakedown for the next JWRC in Greece, winning the Welsh event along the way.
13.
Kris Meeke then took part in the Pirelli Rally in Tampere as shakedown for the next JWRC event in Finland, scoring a class win in Pirelli Rally.
14.
Kris Meeke was leading the Finnish JWRC event before a mistake caused him to crash and retire.
15.
Kris Meeke crashed out heavily on the Monte Carlo Rally but went on to win the next three rounds he competed in at Brazil, Portugal, and Belgium.
16.
Kris Meeke finished off the season with a dominant win of the inaugural Rally Scotland, winning 7 of the 13 stages on the way to victory.
17.
Kris Meeke starred in a wave of adverts for the Peugeot 207 in 2009, with the tagline "He's Meeke, but he's not mild".
18.
For 2010, Kris Meeke continued his successful partnership with Paul Nagle and Peugeot, competing in 10 rounds of the IRC.
19.
On 2 September 2010, Autosport magazine announced that Kris Meeke had signed for the Prodrive team that would run MINI World Rally Championship return in 2011.
20.
Kris Meeke scored his first WRC points and won the Power Stage at the 2011 Rally Catalunya.
21.
Kris Meeke came close to gaining his maiden podium at the final round of the season, the 2011 Rally GB but spun on the Power Stage allowing Henning Solberg to take third place.
22.
Kris Meeke appeared in an edition of the BBC show Top Gear in a challenge similar to that of Henning Solberg driving a rally car against the Norwegian Olympic Bobsleigh team.
23.
Kris Meeke rallied a Mini John Cooper Works WRC on a downhill snow track in a race against skeleton competitor Amy Williams at the Lillehammer Olympic Bobsleigh and Luge Track.
24.
Williams raced down the bobsleigh track whilst Kris Meeke's route ran downhill alongside.
25.
On 22 December 2011, Kris Meeke was dropped from the Mini WRC Team for the following month's Monte Carlo Rally in a crisis within the Prodrive-run team over budget for the 2012 season.
26.
Kris Meeke returned to the WRC in the 2013 Rally Finland, driving for the Abu Dhabi Citroen Total World Rally Team as a stand in for Khalid Al Qassimi.
27.
Kris Meeke was running comfortably in fifth place and set for an impressive points earning finish on his WRC return before rolling in the final section of the penultimate stage of the rally.
28.
Kris Meeke remained with Citroen for 2015 alongside Mads Ostberg, with Sebastian Loeb joining him in Monte Carlo.
29.
Kris Meeke won his maiden rally in Argentina, ending a 13-year drought of British winners of a WRC event.
30.
On 16 December it was announced that Kris Meeke would have a 3-year contract with Citroen, up until the end of 2018.
31.
Kris Meeke won two rallies in 2016, in Portugal and in Finland, the latter breaking a record for the highest average speed in a WRC rally.
32.
Kris Meeke became the first driver from United Kingdom to win the famous and fast Rally Finland.
33.
Kris Meeke had hoped that his 2016 schedule would allow him to challenge for the 2017 title.
34.
The opening two rounds of 2017 proved frustrating for Kris Meeke, crashing out in Monte Carlo and finishing 12th in Rally Sweden.
35.
Kris Meeke took a win in Rally Mexico, despite a mistake in the final kilometre.
36.
Kris Meeke had gone into the Power Stage with a 37.2 second lead over Sebastien Ogier, but slid off track on a fast right hander, ending up in a car park.
37.
The incident cut his lead to 13.8 seconds, Kris Meeke rejoining the stage through a gap in a hedge.
38.
Kris Meeke led the next rally, the Tour de Corse, but retired from the lead with an engine problem on the Novella stage.
39.
Kris Meeke eventually retired on day 2 with a mechanical issue.
40.
However, at the next round in Spain, Kris Meeke took the lead from Andreas Mikkelsen on the second day and steadily pulled away from the rest of the field to take a second victory of the season.
41.
Kris Meeke was retained by Citroen for the 2018 championship and was the only Citroen driver scheduled to contest all thirteen rallies.
42.
Team principal Pierre Budar was critical of what he called an "excessively high" number of accidents that came about when Kris Meeke took "unjustified risks" considering his position at the time of the accidents.
43.
On 17 October 2018, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT announced Kris Meeke would drive the Toyota Yaris World Rally Car.
44.
On 27 November 2019, Kris Meeke confirmed that he was leaving Toyota.