Albatec Racing are hoping to carry their recent form into this weekend’s penultimate round of the 2015 FIA European Rallycross Championship, being held alongside the FIA World Rallycross Championship at Barcelona in Spain.
At the last EuroRX encounter in Norway, Mettet winner Jerome Grosset-Janin came home in fourth place whilst championship rival Tommy Rustad took the victory. With the recent high flying form from the teams two Peugeot 208 RX Supercars at the WorldRX encounter in Loheac in France and with Team Principal Andy Scott taking a podium finish at the recent BritishRX encounter at Lydden Hill, the French driver is optimistic for this weekend.
“Barcelona is a new discovery for us and it is exciting to have this feeling of the unknown! There is a strong battle in the European RX championship and everything could go well, or indeed the wrong way. But as usual, I will do my best, to get the best out of the car, and work with the team to be on top!”
Team-mate James Grint will enter his fifth rallycross event this weekend as he returns to EuroRX after his last outing in Norway, where he qualified for the Semi-Finals but missed out on the chance to progress to the EuroRX Supercar Final and he is hoping for more this weekend.
“It’s been quite a while since Norway, but I’m pretty focused and as ready as I can be. I usually manage to get a test in the car before a race but that’s not been possible this time so Norway was the last time in the car. But I’m sure we will be quick! I think the new track will be a bit of a leveller as the experienced guys won’t have any data for the new track. The pace will still be insane but I’d expect a smaller gap between teams and drivers here. I’m pretty happy to have made the semi finals twice in three races. In Estering I just about made the cut but in Norway I feel I really deserved my place in the semi finals, so I will be looking to improve on that performance. I think the pace is good enough for the finals so I will be pushing to get in there!!” explained Grint.
“Jerome is a great teammate. He pushes me and helps me find a few extra tenths with my lap times so I’m really glad to have him around. The team is fantastic, I’ve got two great mechanics and one of the best engineers I’ve ever known behind me and of course Andy up in the spotters tower!! All these guys are pushing to unlock even more potential from our 208s and you can feel the car improving each time I sit in it. So well done to the guys they’re doing a great job.”
Team Principal Andy Scott is looking forward to more of the teams good pedigree at a track that is brand new to the WorldRX and the EuroRX competitors.
“It’s always exciting to go to a new circuit, so I’m looking forward to going to Barcelona. A new track means we’re all starting from the same point, but naturally it also means you have no idea what to expect. But I’m confident the organisers and IMG will deliver another great new event,” explained Scott.
“Albatec had a good result last time out in the European series in Norway with both Jérome and James reaching the semi finals again and in France with Jérome and Yvan Muller we were consistently in the top ten across three of the heats, so we head to Spain optimistic of another strong result.”