Kris Meeke, 44, a winner of five WRC events, has not yet hung up his racing gloves. This year, he is competing in the Portuguese Rally Championship with Hyundai and has also served as Skoda’s test driver in recent years.
Meeke dominated the opening round of the Portuguese championship, the Rally Serras de Fafe, a week ago, defeating Portugal’s own rally star Armindo Araujo by a solid minute. Bolivian rising star Marco Bulacia, who is making his way in the WRC2 class, also had to admit Meeke’s superiority, trailing by over a minute and a half.
Armindo Araujo, 46, is well-known from the World Rally Championship, with 49 WRC starts under his belt. His best achievement was a seventh-place finish at the 2012 Rally Mexico in a Mini WRC car.
A multiple Portuguese champion, Araujo does not believe anyone can challenge Meeke this year.
“Kris Meeke is an outstanding driver, with fantastic speed, but he’s on a different level from the Portuguese drivers,” Araujo candidly admits to the Portuguese Autosport.pt website.
“Meeke spends his life driving and racing, enjoying unique conditions for doing so.”
According to Araujo, the situation in the Portuguese championship is the same as in most national series: local drivers have limited financial resources, which means, for example, limited testing.
“In summary, these are very disparate realities. We have to live with them, and it is what it is,” Araujo summarized.
However, Araujo has not given up on the championship fight.
“Never give up, always fight and always believe, always giving our best,” Araujo said.
