Thursday 18 July 2013

RallyX - Meeke gets 600 BHP

Kris Meeke will make his RallycrossRX debut with Albatec Racing in the FIA European Rallycross Championship at Lohéac (France) next month (Aug 31/Sept 1). Meeke will partner Albatec Racing Team Principal Andy Scott (from Dumfries) at the wheel of a two litre, 16v Peugeot 208 provided Andy has recovered from a double fracture of the left collarbone in testing at Lohéac yesterday when the car clouted a barrier.

Kris tested the 208 Supercar for the first time yesterday and immediately said he was "blown away" with the four-wheel-drive 600 bhp French machine. He is not entirely new to rallycross, having raced an RX150 buggy at Croft in 2008, and can also list the Baja 1000 Desert Race and the Irish Kart Grand Prix among his achievements.

The Lohéac event however will mark his first competitive appearance in a rallycross supercar. The newest car on the fiercely competitive entry list has performed well in the first half of the season, taking heat victory and posting competitive lap times at the hands of former British Rallycross Vice-Champion Scott.

Later this month, Meeke will continue his role as senior test driver for Peugeot and Citroen, and contest Rally Finland ahead of his appearance at Albatec Racing’s home event of Lohéac in front of an estimated 60,000 spectators. Joining other WRC drivers Sebastien Loeb and Petter Solberg, Meeke will go head-to-head with the cream of European rallycross stars bidding for victory.

Kris said: “I’m blown away, I don’t think I’ve ever driven a supercar with this amount of horsepower, it’s just incredible. There are so many things to learn, the tyres are different to what I use in rally, they’re so much softer to generate traction from a standing start but with not as much longitudinal grip as we have in rallies. And to have all that horsepower and try to manage it is just, well incredible."

“I have experience of the new 208 T16 rally car, and there are obviously similar comparisons, but widely different in the same respect. With over 2.5 times the power than I’m used to, 600 bhp is the biggest factor. It’s new to me of course, with so much to learn here, a new track, the conditions, the car, and the engineers, but if you give any driver 600 bhp, a steering wheel and pedals they’re going to jump at it."

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