Albatec Racing reaffirmed the pace of its two-litre 16v Peugeot 208 with a solid performance in the FIA European Rallycross Championship season-finale in Germany today. Running consistently among the top ten, it was only a broken suspension that prevented Team Principal Andy Scott from progressing to the 12-car semi finals places, for the all-important six-car final.
The fledgling team, in its first season with the brand new 600bhp Supercar, lay just outside the top 12 after Saturday’s opening two heats, and was easily placed to secure a top ten time in both races today, which would have seen the team qualify for its third semi final place of the season. Scott, the 2011 MSA British Rallycross Vice-Champion, carried the undisputed pace of the French powerhouse through to heat three this morning, with a storming start helping to secure the lead at the first turn.
Running wide on the exit, Scott lost the lead to Morten Bermingrud, but over the opening two laps was consistently faster than the eventual race winner. The Dumfries Scotsman was however unable to repeat his 2012 success at the Estering track, when a front left suspension mount broke on lap two, hampering his progress, although he salvaged second place.
With sterling work by the Albatec Racing crew to repair the damaged 208 between the third and final heat, Scott took up his place on the outside of the grid for the final qualifying race. A reasonable getaway by the multiple FIA European Rallycross Championship race winner saw him maintain a good position into the first corner, however he was unable to fully capitalise on the car’s speed in the race, finishing fifth and dropping to 15th in the intermediate results.
Despite the disappointment of not converting the Peugeot’s undoubted potential into outright victory, Albatec Racing remains optimistic and determined ahead of 2014 and it’s proposed entry into the new IMG-promoted FIA World Rallycross World Championship.
Andy Scott, Team Principal and driver Albatec Racing #26 :
“I’m actually very disappointed really, we just don’t seem to have had any good luck in the last three races. I made a really good start on the opening heat, but ran just a little too wide at the first corner, which allowed Morten (Bermingrud) through. Over the first two laps we had a lot more speed than him, but then the front left suspension mount broke and the suspension came up through the bonnet, which compromised our speed to the finish.
“Although we had the tenth fastest time, Morten finished sixth, and we were potentially faster than him so I think we could have had a top five time today. In the second, I didn’t make such a good start, nobody went wide, while I was ready to go on the inside, and it was too late to switch. The boys did a great job to get the car ready for the fourth heat, but in the end, we just didn’t have enough speed in the race to help us progress.
“On a positive note, although we didn’t have much good luck, I think once again we’ve shown that the Peugeot 208 is certainly among the quickest cars on the grid, and the reliability is very good, which should bode well when we enter our second year of competition.”
Marc Laboulle, Team Manager Albatec Racing :
“I have two very different feelings from this weekend. The first one, if I ignore the final result, is that it’s the best weekend of the year for us, we were able to play in the top ten, and sometimes the top five, the speed was definitely there, Andy was more aggressive, and at the same time once again just three paces separate us from qualifying to the semi finals.
“I think we have learnt a lot this weekend too. I’ve been very happy with the starts, and when you analyse things fully, we have to be happy with the reliability of the Peugeot 208, with how the whole team has worked together, while recognising that this year was very much a training year for us, now it’s finished and we must focus on carrying everything we’ve learnt into 2014.”
