Albatec Racing cemented the potential of its two litre, 16v Peugeot 208 with a well-deserved heat victory on day two of the sixth round of the FIA European Rallycross Championship at the Hljes Motorstadion today. In front of a record 29,200 crowd, Team Principal Andy Scott powered his 600bhp, four-wheel-drive car to its second heat win, and second place in the final heat, but amid a fiercely competitive 35-car field was unable to progress to the semi finals.
With only minor work done overnight ahead of the third and fourth heats, Scott headed out to morning warm-up intent on continuing the on-going development of the Peugeot 208, and at the conclusion of the hour-long session was satisfied with the progress in all but one area of the 1.2km circuit. The fast sweeping downhill section proved tricky for the multiple European, GRC and British championship race winner, but the improvements made by the team and its technical partners left Scott feeling confident ahead of the first heat.
Heading out for the opening race, it was unclear where Scott would actually line up on the grid, and with the start position more critical at Hljes than at many other RallycrossRX tracks, only a split second decision allowed the 2011 British Rallycross Vice-Champion to get the jump, heading the field into the first corner. Momentarily losing the lead during the joker lap, Scott nevertheless hung on to the tail of the leader and when he went wide at the penultimate corner, Scott nipped through to take victory, his second of the series.
Lining up on the middle of the grid for the fourth and final heat, Scott once again capitalised on the lightening-quick French powerhouses starts, to slot into third as they entered turn one. Taking to the joker lap immediately, he rejoined in fourth, moving up to third next time round. A big push on the penultimate lap allowed him to close the gap to second place, and when the car in front took his joker, Scott was ideally placed to take the position, which he held to the flag.
With a massive 35 strong Supercar grid, featuring the leading lights of European rallycross, the odds were stacked against the fledgling team progressing to the 12-car semi final positions following the damage sustained to the #26 Peugeot in Saturdays second heat. However, with a strong speed and near 100% reliability, Albatec Racing leaves the final Scandinavian round with high hopes of converting that into results next time out.
Andy Scott, Team Principal and driver Albatec Racing #26 :
Overall, its been a fantastic weekend, the atmosphere here is amazing, although Im naturally not happy to be in the midfield, so we need to work hard on that before the next round. In warm-up this morning, I wanted to concentrate on tweaking a few areas with regards to the handling of the car, and we managed to do that successfully, leaving just the downhill section with any real concern. Its more of a confidence problem because the car is unstable there and Im worried that if I push any harder, Ill lose control. Weve improved it, with the ride height, but we still need to go a bit further.
In the opening heat I made a great start, nice and clean, to lead into the first corner and the car was pretty much solid, great fun to drive, and what a fantastic reception to win on my favourite track. Winning a heat at Hljes is like winning a final anywhere else, and made the whole weekend worthwhile.
In the second race, I made a good start but five cars trying to go into one place meant there was a lot of contact, so I took the joker on my first lap, which worked well. The improvements are coming, but we lost several laps with the electrical problem in practice, and then in heat two with the puncture, so Im probably at the pace now I should have been yesterday.
Weve improved each race though; each has been faster, so generally Im happy with the progress over the weekend.
Marc Laboulle, Team Manager Albatec Racing :
When we knew on Friday morning how many cars would be here in Supercars, we knew it would be difficult unless you can take 100% risk in every race. Quickly I understood it would be a hard weekend, as its difficult for a driver to switch from Team Principal to driver, but that is what Andy must do.
Yesterday wasnt perfect, we were always in the midfield, and with the puncture for sure it wasnt the best way to finish the first day. We established this morning in the warm-up where we were losing time, and it was obvious you need to push hard to make a quick time, as the top 15 did. However, our best lap was in our last heat, so we are progressing each time.
Most importantly, we still have a car in a good condition, which is always a good result, there are many teams who havent. Ahead of a very big test, for the most important race in the calendar for us, we need to ensure the car was in one piece.
I am very happy for Andy to win his opening heat, for him, his family and all the team and it really helped to boost the whole teams morale after the bad luck we had in the opening two heats. We have worked hard, and finally that work is starting to pay off, underlining once again the cars potential and this we will continue into the next event.
