Hell, Norway Albatec Racing underlined its potential with another strong performance in warm-up for the fifth round of the FIA European Rallycross Championship at Lanke, Norway. Piloting the brand new two-litre, 16v, Peugeot 208, Team Principal Andy Scott repeated his fine form of yesterday, when he was eighth fastest in free practice, to place sixth in the hour-long session this morning.

In his opening heat, the Dumfries Scotsman made a good start and headed into the joker ahead of Peter Hedstrom, rejoining the main track in third place. Pushing hard over the next two laps, he managed to hold position, and when race leader Tore Kristoffersen peeled off to take the slower lap, Scott was ideally placed to move into second, taking Hedstrom with him.

With several cars having previously suffered damage on the tough, bumpy surface, Scott played it cautious, however on the final turn of the last lap, he left the door open, allowing Hedstrom to take the place.

His final heat of the day saw Scott line up in the middle of the grid and at the start, he elected to play it safe to try and ensure a finish to guarantee a place in the semi finals. Running second to Hedstrom, and with many retirements due to damage in the other heats, Scott looked set to progress, however disaster struck on lap two when he was forced into retirement with broken front left suspension.

The result dropped Scott down the overall rankings at the conclusion of the fourth heats, and brought to a close the teams bid for RallycrossRX honours in Norway.

However, the fine form shown over the weekend now allows the team to head to round six in Holjes in three weeks time with renewed confidence and determination, at the former MSA British Rallycross Vice-Champions favourite track.

Andy Scott, Team Principal and driver Albatec Racing #26 :

I made a very good start but from the position I was I didnt have any option but to take the joker lap. I put in some consistent lap times, but I was pretty cautious at the last turn before the hairpin as a lot of cars had punctured and broken suspension there, but Hedstrom obviously wasnt and closed on me every lap. I left the door open on the last lap and he passed me at the hairpin, but he took a lot of risks to do it maybe I should have taken more risks!. But the car is good and if you look at my times on the three laps prior to the last one, it would have been a top seven time, so naturally its frustrating.

In heat two, I took the safe option to hold back behind the pack, to avoid being pushed out, and was quite happy running second to Hedstom, however this is a hard track, and like many others over the weekend, my suspension broke, which is obviously disappointing. With several drivers out I think we could have had a good time and progressed to the semis.

Its a disappointing end to the day, however I am very happy with the progress weve made since Finland that has allowed me to really show the cars potential. The whole team has pulled together to turn it all round, and Im sure it wont be long before we are going head-to-head up at the front and vying for honours, and what better place to do that than at my favourite track.

Marc Laboulle, Team Manager Albatec Racing :

Overall I think its been a very positive weekend, and Im delighted that weve been able to provide Andy with a car that has allowed him to battle at the top of the time sheets. Im very happy with the car, the gearing, the engine, in fact all the areas that we have worked so closely with our technical partners to develop and improve.

Andys driving style this weekend has been different, and I think he has more confidence with the car and that has been reflected in his times. Here the joker lap plays a big role in the outcome, and where you start on the grid can be the decider. Its hard and you have only one second to decide if youre going to do the joker lap or not, which many times this weekend has been a tough decision.

A good start is also essential here and that is something we will continue to work on as we head to the next round in Sweden. But yes, we are all very happy, although of course were disappointed that the tough track has prevented us from being rewarded for our efforts with a more positive outcome. Now our aim is to convert our speed into results.