Team Peugeot-Hansen enjoyed a positive start to the 2015 FIA World Rallycross Championship at Montalegre in Portugal, taking a podium finish.
Both Timmy Hansen and new signing Davy Jeanney were fast put of the box in their new Peugeot 208 WRX Supercars, with Hansen regularly fighting for the quickest times during the heat stages with Petter Solberg and Andreas Bakkerud, whilst Jeanney settled in over the weekend. Hansen would go on to be fastest in heat three, whilst both drivers would qualify for the Semi-Finals.
In worsening conditions, Hansen and Jeanney pursued Semi-Final Two winner and Final victor Johan Kristoffersson, with both drivers finishing second and third to qualify for the Final. After six laps of terrible racing conditions, Hansen finished third and Jeanney finished in fourth place, also giving Team Peugeot-Hansen the lead in the Teams Trophy.
Team Principal Kenneth Hansen was overjoyed with the weekends result.
“Our aim here in Portugal was to do well and hopefully get both cars into the final, and that’s exactly what we achieved,” said Kenneth. “We had also hoped to find ourselves at the top of the Teams’ standings after perhaps two or three rounds, and here we are in front already! For sure, it’s been a great weekend.
“Timmy was fast over both days and Davy upped his pace gradually. I am pleased with both of them. We now need to continue developing the car’s set-up and I can hardly wait for the next events.”
Timmy Hansen was also very happy to make the podium at the first WorldRX event of 2015.
“It feels great to have been so competitive at the first round of the season,” said Timmy Hansen. “We’re leading the Teams’ championship and that’s so much better than our start to last year. My car worked very well, but there are still some fine-tuning adjustments to make to the set-up for it to be perfect.
“The weather made the weekend difficult as far as our strategy was concerned but the team did a first class job. The best has yet to come!”
Davy Jeanney took the positives from his first weekend as a works driver and his first WorldRX event.
“I started cautiously and made a few mistakes, along with some small problems at the beginning of the weekend, but we ended up pocketing third and fourth places,” said Jeanney. “Given how the weekend started, I didn’t think I would get so far, so soon, and I’m very pleased. I got off to a great start in the final and even managed to catch Timmy towards the end.
“It’s fantastic, especially as I had quite a lot of mist on the windscreen and could hardly see a thing during the last four laps…”
The next round of WorldRX takes place over the Bank Holiday weekend at Hockenheim in Germany.
