Why Meeke helped Sordo with everything on the line

Back in 2005, Sordo and Meeke fought for the JWRC title and WRC seat next to Loeb. But things were never sour

Photography by Girardo & Co. Archive

Words by Luke Barry

The year is 2005.

Coldplay releases Fix You unaware of how many future montages it’s going to be used on. Fernando Alonso is about to end Michael Schumacher’s dominance in Formula 1, and Kris Meeke and Dani Sordo are fighting it out to win the Junior World Rally Championship and earn the coveted Citroën seat next to Sébastien Loeb.

The last thing you’d expect either of them to want to do is help one another. But things have always been fair as much as they’ve been fierce between the two.

“We have had many situations in the teams [over the years],” Sordo tells DirtFish, “our careers were a little bit parallel.

“I remember when I was in Citroën and I was not really performing well at one point, and Kris took my seat for Finland [2013]. But I was not even sad, I was happy for him because we never have a problem with each other.”

“Like in Germany 2005…” Meeke smiles.

Egged on to share the story, Meeke’s mind is transported back to his JWRC fight with Sordo.

“On the last morning it was really close,” Meeke recalls. ” It was 11 seconds and I took five of Dani in the first stage; down to six.

“Yves Matton was the team boss of the Junior team at that time. He called me: ‘Woah Kris, calm, calm.'”

Citroën was on for a 1-2 and a big fight between its hungry drivers was a headache it didn’t fancy. But irrespective of this, Sordo was in trouble.

“Dani had some trouble with his alternator belt, and he used his spare alternator belt and it went [too],” Meeke recalls.

Don’t forget, it was in Meeke’s selfish interests for Sordo to retire. That point swing could have been vital in his pursuit of the championship. So what did he do?

Sordo was running out of alternator belts, until Meeke came to the rescue

“While we were in the fight with only seconds [between us], I drove past and threw my alternator belt out the window.”

It was a true act of sportsmanship that still makes Sordo smile today.

“This was nice,” he says. “This I will never forget.”

Sordo then was back in action – this would be settled on the stages. But then…

“There was a big bale in a town and I tugged the bale, but at the bottom the kerb stone was just sticking out and I nicked the wheel,” Meeke says. “Dani won.”

After victories in Sardinia and Finland, Sordo’s Germany win was yet another feather in his cap as he went on to claim the title and the WRC drive alongside Loeb.

Meeke’s actions didn’t cost him a title, but they certainly helped his rival. Yet he’d do the same again each and every time.

“We do it on the stages,” he says. “There was never… like Dani says I maybe took his seat at Citroën but even when we were fighting, there was never any [bad blood].

“I think in rally you don’t necessarily get that because it’s not like you’re on a track racing together and if someone hits you, puts you off, you can get angry with the other guy. In a rally you have the road, yourself and it’s up to you to do the job.

“Sometimes I failed and Dani did a better job that year and got the drive with Loeb, and I went back home and worked in a rally school for a few years and didn’t drive a rally car. But that was my responsibility and my mistake, so it’s nothing to do with Dani.”

As evidenced by their big battle in Portugal in 2025, and antics off the stages, the respect between Meeke and Sordo has always been sky high.

“He’s always happy when I do something well and sends me messages, and also for him I’m happy when he gets a program or a car like he deserves,” Sordo says.

Sordo and Meeke have been team-mates and rivals, but always friends

“The people love to see the interviews, the people love to see the style of driving, it’s aggressive, it’s nice.”

But all of this niceness doesn’t mean there isn’t room for a good bit of ribbing…

“Everybody likes to see Kris Meeke is coming because you’re waiting for something, you know!” Sordo grins.

You can watch their entire conversation on YouTube now, or listen to SPIN, The Rally Pod via your favored podcast provider.

Words:Luke Barry

Tags: Dani Sordo, Junior WRC, Kris Meeke, WRC, WRC 2005

Publish Date June 20, 2025 DirtFish https://dirtfish-editorial.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/2025/06/BToivSB2-Girardo_Co._Archive_46734-780x522.jpg June 20, 2025

Up Next