Albatec Racing reaffirmed the potential of its two-litre 16v Peugeot 208 as a race-winning car with another strong performance on day two of the FIA European Rallycross Championship at Loheac . British wildcard entry Kris Meeke once again proved the man to beat in this mornings warm-up, heading the times on his first run and establishing himself as a top contender among the bumper 31-car field, before clinching his maiden RallycrossRX Supercar victory, while Team Principal Andy Scott narrowly missed out on double heat victory, twice finishing second.
Lining up on the outside of the grid alongside Nabil Karam, Jos Jansen, Petter Solberg and Scott, Meeke was unable to make the most of the cars 600bhp, trailing Jansen into the first corner. The 2009 IRC Champion quickly recovered though, moving ahead of Jansen after his joker, before targeting third placed Karam on lap three. The Lebanese driver left a gap which Meeke quickly took advantage of, to claim third at the flag.
Up at the front, Scott made a good start to place third off the line, quickly capitalising on the superb speed of the Peugeot 208 to move into second place before the conclusion of lap one. A strong unchallenged run to the flag netted a close second place behind Solberg, to keep alive Scotts hopes of a place in the semi finals.
The fourth qualifying heat of the day had Meeke demoted to the back of the field, after being disqualified from the results of heat three for his pass on Karam. Heading to the grid for the race Meeke knew this would be his last chance to progress, and that victory and a fast race pace were essential to his hopes. A great getaway saw him lead into turn one, running side-by-side with Mats Ohman, but wisely he conceded the place at the next corner. A stirring drive allowed him to take the place on the next lap, and with a hard-charging drive to the flag secured his first RallycrossRX Supercar heat victory.
For Scott, the final heat had him line up on pole and a superb start allowed him to take the immediate lead into the first corner. Scott quickly established a good pace, pulling away from the second-placed car, but on the final lap, he lost time on the joker losing the lead but finishing a fighting second.
Despite the strong results and a rapid pace across the weekend, neither driver was able to progress to the semi finals and a possible place in the all-important Final, however the team continues to make great strides in its on-going development of the Albatec Racing Peugeot 208 and heads to the next round confident of converting its improving pace into race results.
Andy Scott, Team Principal and driver Albatec Racing #26 :
Its been a fantastic event for the thousands of enthusiastic fans who turned out to watch some of the biggest names in rallycross and rallying battling it out, which has really added to the amazing atmosphere. They completely understand the sport and are very patriotic, and naturally really enjoy getting behind the French drivers.
Kris has been fantastic all weekend and has been a pleasure to work with. Hes been very, very fast, Im sure he had the speed to win the event, but unfortunately luck hasnt been on his side. But hes been able to demonstrate that the Albatec Peugeot 208 has race winning pace without any question, so although we dont have the results we were looking for, its a good step forward for Albatec.
On a personal level, Im happy that my first race weekend back after the crash, and on the track at which it happened, has not caused me too many problem and there was no hesitation at that part of the track. It was good to pick up a couple of good results, with first and two second places in the four heats, I just didnt have the speed this weekend to get through to the semi finals, but that will be our aim in Austria.
Kris Meeke, driver Albatec Racing #27 :
We knew from the test the car was good so I had a good feeling. When its like that and youre able to set the fastest times in practice when youve a clean track, its great but in rallycross you dont have a clean track. The total lottery of the first corner went against us this weekend and not being able to get the start we wanted is frustrating, but thats racing.
In heat three, the guy in front left me two cars width on the inside so I went for the gap. I got past him and he was at my side door and tried to turn in on me and it was a black flag for me. I was completely past him before he turned in so I simply dont understand it.
The whole environment and atmosphere is fantastic, but I think if it moves on to a professional level, where they want it to go, theyre going to have to be a lot clearer on the rules.
We know we have the speed, but its not qualifying every time, for me for sure the rules need to change a lot before it becomes a proper professional sport. You need qualifying, you cant rely on a lottery and be placed in with guys who are four or five seconds a lap slower and theres nowhere to pass, there needs to be qualifying and the first heats based on those positions, top six in the heats, more like that as it leaves too much to interpretation. The guys in the tower dont understand sometimes what its like to be inside the car and they have to make a decision, but for me its clear it wasnt a black flag.
Its been incredible working with the Albatec Racing team. I had the best tools and I believe the best car this weekend to do a good job, you could see in morning warm-up and practice we were able to do the best times, for sure everything with the team was perfect. The car was absolutely amazing to drive and that is what makes it even more frustrating, not being able to convert that into results.
Marc Laboulle, Team Manager Albatec Racing :
"I am clearly disappointed with the overall result, because our goal was to have at least one of our cars into the semi final, and both cars just missed out finishing 15th and 18th. Which is not so far when you consider the entry list here, however that was not enough to achieve our ambition.
When you look at Kriss pace, of course it is natural to have hopes of a high result with him in the future. We may have him on board again, but it is too early to talk about that. He appreciated the rallycross discipline, but is also frustrated by his result, because he showed he had so much speed. Pace means a lot, but victory is another story, that's why rallycross is so special.
"Another example of this is Andy's third heat, where he finished maybe less than 15 metres behind Solberg, but the overall time was 10 places away. You see 10 metres means 10 places in rallycross.
"I am however delighted to be back here at Lohac and that it was elected to be within the RallycrossRX. From what I have seen IMG's knowhow combined with the Loheac's organisers experience have produced a fantastic event, which I hope we will attend many times in the future with better results for Albatec Racing."
