Team Peugeot-Hansen leave Lydden Hill once again looking for a way in to the FIA World Rallycross Championship finals despite showing positive pace throughout the weekend.
Following the disappointment of Portugal the team were looking to put their pace to good use this weekend but unfortunately both drivers would suffer at the hands of engine problems.
Reigning European Rallycross champion Timur Timerzyanov finished the first day in sixth overall following a third and a ninth in the opening heats. Day two would start bad for the Russian star when an engine problem during the warm-up put him out of the running for the rest of the day.
Timmy Hansen & Tommy Rustad do battle
With Timerzyanov out, the honour of the team fell to Timmy Hansen who was unhappy with the suspension set up on his Peugeot 208WRX on the opening day. The team would work hard overnight to fix the set up and Hansen rewarded their efforts with a third fastest time in heat three.
Unfortunately for Hansen and the team the race weekend would pretty much end there; an engine issue on the grid of the fourth heat saw Hansen exit the car before the start, and despite qualifying for the semi finals, out of the action all together.
Team principle Kenneth Hansen would have obviously preferred a different result and was frustrated with the mechanical issues but was happy with what he had seen from the team at Lydden.
“We haven’t been able to solve the engine problems, partially because of the tight time scale of the event. Also, we are thinking of the long game, it’s important that we keep ourselves in the best position possible in the championship, and we did not want to risk damaging another engine in the cars by fitting them and breaking them again. We are restricted on the amount of engines we can use during the season, “ said Hansen.
Timmy Hansen pushes hard
“We have learnt a lot about the cars this weekend, and both Timur and Timmy improved their lap times in each run they did. We are on the pace, and we will do absolutely everything we can to solve the problems before the next round in Norway.
“Even with the issues we have had here, there is still a very good atmosphere within the team. We have a lot of experience and great engineers, we will fight back in Norway!”
