Albatec Racing head in to the fourth round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship in high spirits after a strong showing from Jacques Villeneuve in Norway.
Team principal and driver Andy Scott will miss a second round of the season after giving up his car for Villeneuve following a testing roll prior to the previous round. Scott is expected to be out for round five in Sweden with the team returning to full strength.
Former F1-champion Villeneuve took a heat win and fastest lap in the first heats and finished second fastest in heat two. A puncture put and end to his forward charge in the final qualifying heat forcing him to miss out on the final in Hell.
“After such a strong start to the weekend in Norway, where Jacques was arguably the fastest driver on track in the opening two heats, we left the weekend very disappointed not to have reached the finals” explained Scott.
“We know the 208 is quick and Jacques’ speed has never been in question, so we head to Finland determined to capitalise on the pace of both car and driver, where only qualifying to the finals will be good enough.
“We have invested a lot of time, effort and money into this programme and firmly believe we have all the tools to do the job, we just need to convert all of that into the results I know we are capable of. Kouvola is one of the most exciting yet challenging races on the 2014 schedule, and we all look to the weekend with confidence.”
Villeneuve is now looking forward to putting the previous round behind him and pushing forward, “I was disappointed not to progress in Norway as I know the Albatec 208 is super quick, but that’s rallycross. It’s not enough to just be quick, you need consistency and a little bit of luck also to allow you to get the best results from the heats.
“We made good progress during testing and again in Norway, so I am feeling confident ahead of what I hear is a great event, and one of the best tracks on the schedule.”
“I will be pushing hard to get some clean, fast heats and won’t be happy with anything less than a place in the semi finals.”
