Team Peugeot-Hansen are looking to hit the ground running as their bid to win both the 2015 FIA World Rallycross Drivers Title and Teams Trophy gets underway at Montalegre in the series opener this weekend.
In their second season of WorldRX action, the team has retained 2014 WorldRX Of Italy victor Timmy Hansen whilst signing up the services of 2013 FIA European Rallycross Vice-Champion Davy Jeanney. Both men will drive brand new Peugeot 208 WRX Supercars, which have been updated and improved on the 2014 models in a bid to secure more wins and challenge for titles in 2015.
Hansen Development will also field a third Peugeot 208 WRX Supercar at different events during the season, run under the Hansen Development Banner. Super1600 driver Janis Baumanis has already confirmed he will compete in the Supercar class at the UK, Norway and Turkey rounds alongside his Super1600 commitments.
The team is looking for a better start to the 2015 season opener in Portugal than the start they had in 2014. Both Timmy Hansen and 2014 Peugeot-Hansen driver Timur Timerzyanov were knocked at at the Semi-Final stages. However the team is confident that a more intense preparation programme over the winter has left them ready for the challenge ahead of the 2015 season.
Timmy Hansen is looking to size up the opposition as well as looking forward to the challenge of the Portuguese track.
“Montalegre is a classic track which features soft dirt. It necessitates a particularly aggressive driving style for much of the lap, although you need to be quite precise and brake late during the first portion. It calls for two different styles, in fact, and that’s what makes it such a big challenge! The long straight will be an opportunity to evaluate the performance of everybody’s engines and I can’t wait to get the season started and see where we stand after all the work everyone has put in over the winter.”
New recruit Davy Jeanney is looking forward to his role as a factory supported driver at Peugeot-Hansen and is eager to make a good start in Montalegre.
“I can hardly wait for my first full World RX programme to get started. As a rookie in a major factory team, I obviously feel under a certain amount of pressure, but that’s all very positive. I am more accustomed with racing for my own team, so Team Peugeot-Hansen’s approach is very different. I will do my best to settle in as quickly as possible in order to be competitive as soon as I can. I am already starting to feel comfortable with the car and team, and I’m pretty confident as we go into the first race.”
The first round of the 2015 FIA World Rallycross Championship gets underway this weekend at Montalegre in Portugal. The Checkered Flag will be providing coverage of WorldRX all season long.
