Meeke determined to bounce back

Meeke's Peugeot 207 S2000 rolled an estimated five times less than a mile into the 19-mile Montauban sur Ouveze-Eygalayes test that opened Friday's action. Both Meeke and co-driver Paul Nagle emerged unscathed from the crash.

"It was a typical Monte Carlo accident," said Meeke. "We got caught out on some ice and aquaplaned off the road. It was the first time I've ever been scared in a rally car.

"It was a big, big accident. We went off the road in fifth gear and into a ditch, then the car seemed to accelerate before we hit a bridge and started to roll. It was bad."

The damage to the car was still being assessed by the Kronos Racing team who run Meeke's Peugeot UK car, but the shunt will not affect the Northern Irish driver's entry on Rally Internacional de Curitiba, which starts in Brazil on March 5.

Despite having no time to test the 207 on gravel before his first outing on a loose surface, Meeke is confident in his ability to recover with a win in the first non-European round of the series.

"I believe I can win in Brazil" he said. "I'm happy with the pace which I've shown here. Take the championship contenders here, like Freddy (Loix) and (Giandomenico) Basso, I'm very happy. We were taking good time out of Basso and the only time Freddy got back past me was when we had the puncture."