The Albatec Racing squad will approach this weekend’s French round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship presented by Monster Energy with a different driver lineup as former British Rallycross ace David Binks joins Team Principal Andy Scott in a one off drive for the team.
With regular driver Jacques Villeneuve busy with Italian Grand Prix commentary duties, Binks joins the team for this event only, however he brings experience to the team, having previously raced in the British Rallycross Championship and the Red Bull Global Racing Championship.The team have planned to test their Peugeot 208 Supercars in the run up to the event, being held at Loheac in France, allowing Binks a chance to acclimatise to his new steed, whilst Scott works on fine tuning the setup of the Albatec built Supercars. Scott himself is in high spirits as he has qualified for four of the five semi finals the team has progressed to this year, added to the fact that he went well at Loheac last year in the EuroRX event.
“I’m particularly excited about racing in Lohéac as I’ve had some success there in the past and last year we came very close to qualifying both cars, so we have a bit of unfinished business. It’s been a busy time re-prepping the cars since they returned from Canada, but the team has worked hard to ensure they are both in good shape to take on the challenge of France,” explained Scott.
“I’m very interested to test with David this week ahead of the weekend, and hopefully together we can work to develop the optimum set-up to allow us both to challenge for a strong result.”
David Binks is also in a very positive mood ahead of the event. “I can’t wait to get back in the driving seat, it’s been far too long. I had a seat fitting at the team’s Dumfries workshop over the weekend and that felt great just sitting in the car, never mind driving it. I’m really looking forward to the test on Wednesday, I think we have a good base set-up from which to work, and hopefully between myself and Andy, with all his experience of the car, we can head to the race with a good package to give us the best chance of success,” said Binks.
“I can’t thank my sponsors enough, JBT Waste, recyclieitall, Codemasters, Harsh Ltd, Smuggling Duds, Ripla and Crosswrap for all their support and I will do everything I can to repay their confidence in me.”
After this weekends World RX event, Scott will be partnered by female World RX driver Ramona Karlsson for the ninth round in the series in Italy.