Philippe Maloigne overcame difficult conditions at the Chateauroux circuit to take his first ever French Rallycross Championship victory at the wheel of his Albatec Racing Peugeot 208 last weekend.
After the Dumfries based team showed it was the pace setter at the recent opening round of the 2016 FIA European Rallycross Championship, the French driver carried that performance on further as he began the weekend in dominant style by taking going second fastest in Heat One before going faster still and winning Heat Two to lead the overnight standings in the Supercar Class.
On Sunday, he continued to follow up his good pace as the conditions became worse due to the heavy rain. Maloigne continued his impressive performance in Heat Three by going fastest overall before securing the fifth fastest time in Heat Four to keep himself at the top of the Intermediate standings and confirm himself a place in the Semi-Finals. However with the joker lap section completely awash after heavy rain, the organisers decided to run the Semi-Finals with the Joker section. Third place in the Semi-Final gave Maloigne his place in the Final where he powered through to take victory overall in his second event for Albatec Racing.
“What a fantastic feeling. Day one was excellent in terms of results and my feeling with the car, the track, and the conditions. I was very happy to finish second in Q1 and then to win Q2 was a great feeling. The Peugeot 208 was great, we used the Mettet settings the team used so successfully in Euro RX, and it was perfect. There is room for improvement there I know, but I’m happy with my performance in only my third season in racing,” explained the Frenchman.
“Conditions were very difficult on Sunday, as it rained all day and in the opening heat it worsened dramatically just before my heat, giving me a slower time. Despite that I won my race, so I can’t be too disappointed. Overall there are a lot of positives from the weekend, I led the Intermediate classification from heat two onwards, and collected some good points for the championship.”
Team Principle Andy Scott was overjoyed with how Maloigne has developed so far, “What can I say, it’s been a great weekend and I’m delighted for Philippe and the entire team who have worked so hard. On Saturday, in the dry, Philippe was consistently fast across practice and both heats to take an early lead which he never lost. Weather conditions on Sunday were particularly difficult, but he overcame them well and drove fantastic throughout the day,” explained Scott.
“It’s great to see Philippe develop as a driver in such a prestigious championship. He continues to get stronger with every race, and now with that first Supercar win under his belt I’m sure he’ll soon be challenging for more outright wins.”
