Citroën has acknowledged there is no quick fix when it comes to helping Kris Meeke rediscover his form behind the wheel of the team’s DS 3 WRC.
The Briton has had a disappointing start to his second full season with the French manufacturer and finds himself 11th in the WRC drivers’ standings after crashing on all three of the rallies that have been contested so far this season.
Meeke is keen to get his season back on track at the upcoming Rally Argentina (23-26 April) but Citroën team boss Yves Matton is insisting on a measured approach.
“The only objective Kris will have in Argentina is to finish the rally without any mistakes,” Matton said. “Step-by-step, we can then find the confidence in his driving. This is the only approach we can have at the moment.
“Kris needs to rebuild in himself a little bit after what has happened. The only way to improve the situation is to work together and stay focused on our objective.”
Matton admitted he’s been surprised by Meeke’s poor start to 2015, particularly in light of the 35-year-old’s strong finish to his debut season as a factory driver in 2014.
He said: “At the end of last year – in the second half of the season starting in Finland – he did some really good results and was really consistent on each event. He did a small mistake in GB at the end of the rally but we’d already seen that we’d done a step over last year. The beginning of this season is not what I expected for sure.
“But we have to bear in mind that last season was only his first full season in a World Rally Car and he wants to fight with some other drivers who have at least two or three seasons of experience. That’s not easy.”
Matton remains “quite confident” that Meeke will bounce back this season and has insisted that the Briton has the full support of everyone in the team.
“I’m quite confident that we can achieve something with Kris," he confirmed. "I knew in the beginning that some moments will be difficult, but what he showed in the second part of last season says that it’s only a question of time.”