Kris Meeke underlined his potential by scoring Junior World Rally Championship points on his debut with the Citroen C2, at one stage being able to challenge for a podium position and then battling back to sixth after a puncture delayed his progress.

The McRae Motorsport driver quickly adapted to his all-new car, which he had not had the opportunity to test until the event's shakedown stage.

Gradually adapting the Kronos Racing-run car's set-up to suit his style and the championship's Pirelli tyres, he upped his pace throughout the event, climbing to 4th by early on the 3rd 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" said Meeke, who was co-driven by David Senior. "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 4 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, he eventually secured the C2's first points finish in the Junior World Rally Championship by finishing sixth.

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

"I've always known that I have the speed, but getting consistent results has proved elusive this year" said Meeke. "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."