Dumfries, Scotland (UK) — Thursday 6 October, 2016; Albatec Racing heads to round eight of France Rallycross 2016 at Dreux on Sunday, 9 October, where Philippe Maloigne, armed with the Albatec Peugeot 208 RX Supercar, will lead the team’s bid for victory. In the hands of Maloigne, the 600bhp two-litre, 16v SamShield-backed Peugeot 208 is primed for battle against a fiercely competitive field of French RX racers, looking for a third win of the season.
Albatec heads to Dreux buoyed by its recent victory in the final round of the FIA European Rallycross Championship, where Tommy Rustad took a dramatic win and Jérôme Grosset-Janin claimed back-to-back vice-champion crowns for the Dumfries outfit. With victory at Mayenne last time out for former motocross racer Maloigne, confidence for Philippe and the team is at an all-time high but both are realistic ahead of the penultimate round of French RX.
Dreux is well known to Albatec; the team has regularly tested there during the off-season as well as being the venue for one of Team Principal Andy Scott’s rare European appearances during his GRC campaign in 2012. This weekend all eyes will be on the battle for Supercar supremacy around the 1.2 km track in Northern France, where 20 cars go head-to-head in front of live television coverage.
Free practice in Dreux gets underway at 09.45-12.15 on Saturday, 8 October, followed by the first and second qualifying races at 13.30 and 18.30. Sunday track action continues with warm-up at 08.00, with the third and fourth qualifying races at 09.00 and 12.00. The semi-finals and finals take place from 13.45. All times CEST.
Andy Scott, Team Principal and driver Albatec Racing #26 :
“After winning our last two races of course we go to Dreux feeling pretty good, confident in our pace and reliability and the growing stature of Philippe as a serious contender for victory. However, we never underestimate the competitiveness of Rallycross France or indeed the nature of rallycross itself where luck can sometimes play a part in the outcome.
“We head to Dreux with a lot of test experience under our belt which certainly helps, but in the knowledge that it’s just another round in a very tough championship where half the field is capable of victory. As always we’ll do our best to provide a race-winning car for Philippe and hopefully he can deliver the results we know he’s capable of.”
Philippe Maloigne, driver Albatec Racing #21 :
“I’m looking forward to racing at Dreux. It’s a track I know, I raced there in Super 1600 and I’m feeling confident following victory at Mayenne. The track is unlike most of the circuits we race on in that the gravel section is slightly different to the others on the championship schedule, but it’s equally challenging.
“I know the team has a lot of experience from testing there previously, so that should ensure we have a good set-up from the start. As always I am focusing on one race at a time and treat this weekend like every other race weekend. We go to Dreux following victory in the last two races for Albatec, which means that confidence is high across the team. Hopefully we can produce another strong result this weekend.”
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