Meeke scores points on Citroen C2 debut.

Colin McRae prot?g? Kris Meeke underlined his potential by scoring Junior World Rally Championship points on his debut with the Citroen C2, at one stage challenging for a podium position before battling back to sixth after a puncture delayed his initial progress.

The McRae Motorsport driver quickly adapted to his all-new car, which he had not had the opportunity to test until the shakedown stage of Rallye Catalunya. Gradually sorting the Kronos Racing-run car's set-up to suit his style and the championship's Pirelli tyres, Meeke upped his pace throughout the event, climbing to fourth by early on the third day, before suffering a cruel blow when a tyre punctured in a fifth-gear corner, sending him straight on at the next sharp-left turn.

"In total, four JWRC cars suffered punctures at the same corner," the 25-year old revealed, "The tyre deflated immediately, and that caused us to be pitched off the road under braking. We went through a fence and ended up in a field. By the time we had got back on the road and managed to change the wheel, we'd dropped over four minutes.

"It's very frustrating to have missed out on such a potentially good result. The work we had done to the set-up of the car was really paying dividends, and we were on the pace of the works Suzukis and close to the pace-setting Renaults. We were just learning so much, and it would have been nice to have repaid the team with a decent podium finish."

Battling on, Meeke eventually secured the C2's first points finish in the Junior World Rally Championship by finishing sixth in the JWRC class.

"I've greatly enjoyed working with, and learning from, Kronos Racing, which must be one of the most efficient teams around," he said, "I can't praise their professionalism enough."

The three points scored promoted Meeke to seventh in the end-of-year JWRC standings, and his ten fastest stage times during the season made him comfortably the most successful non-factory supported driver in the championship, despite mechanical problems hampering his progress on several events throughout the season.

"I've always known that I have the speed, but getting consistent results has proved elusive this year," he admitted, "McRae Motorsport are working hard to provide the right package for 2005 in order that I have the opportunity to add to my experience and continue to progress my career to the highest level."

Meeke is being talked about as a potential member of Skoda's WRC squad next year, with McRae known to have discussed such a role with the Czech team on several occasions. The Scot tested the Fabia WRC in Spain ahead of last weekend's event, adding further weight to the speculation.