Meeke: Second would have been nice.

A simple mistake cost Kris Meeke his first podium finish in the Junior World Rally Championship [JWRC] at the weekend when he crashed out of second place on the Rallye Sanremo.

Team Palmer has found renewed impetus with the arrival of Charlie Nichol and Peter Garvin from the Suzuki Junior Team. A combination of small set-up changes and some new development parts had given the team hope of a good showing on the tight, twisting roads of Sanremo.

Meeke had been in sparkling form on the first leg of the rally, setting secod fastest times in the highly competitive category and ended the day in third place, within striking distance of championship contender Daniel Carlsson, while local ace Micro Baldacci led in a S1600 Fiat Punto.

While there was only a 25 seconds gap to second place at the start of Leg 2, the battle for position did not materialise. Daniel Carlsson's challenge came to a sudden end when he crashed on the opening stage of the day, and Meeke was left with a comfortable three minute cushion to third place.

A good result evaporated on the first stage out on Sunday morning however, when Kris missed a braking point, clipped the tail of his Opel Corsa against a rock face, spinning the car into an armco barrier.

"This is one of the biggest disappointments of my career to date," said Meeke, "I have to hold my hands up and admit that I made a mistake. We were under no pressure, but I simply missed a braking point and carried too much speed into the corner.

"Despite that, we have learnt a lot on this rally, and realised that there is quite a bit more speed to be gained both from my pacenotes, and adapting my driving technique."

Despite Meeke's lack of sealed surface experience, Team owner Rob Palmer has been encourage by the progress: "Kris has shown great potential, both in himself and the Opel Corsa package. He is brave enough to admit his mistake, and we just have to move forward and hope that we can push for a podium finish in Cataluyna in three weeks time."