DA Racing had aimed to move closer to the vital top twelve places for the Semi-Finals at Lydden Hill for round five of the 2017 FIA World Rallycross Championship and they came very close to completing their objective.
Jean-Baptiste Dubourg started the weekend off well by staying inside the top sixteen places during Q1 and Q2 on Saturday before going fifteenth fastest in Q3 however a puncture in Q4 ended his chances of closing in on a Semi-Final place.
Dubourg made further improvements in the Peugeot 208 WRX. Credit: JKR / DA Racing
Dubourg was upbeat about his weekend’s work.
“We took advantage on the first day to fine-tune the setup, while setting times that allowed us to have a chance of fighting for the semi-finals,” explained the Frenchman. “On Sunday, we took a big step on all levels especially with our starts. The lap times we did in Q3 were among the fastest laps, so we have considerably reduced the gap to the competition.”
However Dubourg took the positives in the improvements he made on Sunday.
Dubourg mixed it well with the World RX regulars at Lydden Hill. Credit: JKR / DA Racing
“More than the result, I prefer to take the way we fought away from this weekend. We knew how to extract more out of the 208 WRX against some formidable competition.”
Gregoire Demoustier was looking forward to the World RX of Great Britain as he was able to put his circuit skills to use at the Kent circuit. His best finish of the weekend was during seventeenth place in both Q2 and Q4.
Despite finishing in nineteenth place overall and one place behind his more experienced team-mate, Demoustier is really enjoying the transition to Rallycross this season.
Demoustier enjoyed his outing at the World RX of Great Britain. Credit: JKR / DA Racing
“The sensations of driving here were really great and this is the first time that I felt really comfortable at the wheel of the Team DA Racing-Eurodatacar 208 WRX,” explained the Belgian. “We continue to get closer to the top 15 and I was involved in some good battles on track, with drivers like René Muennich.”
However, with his next appearance being the 2017 World RX of Canada, it will be a little while before the Belgian driver gets behind the wheel of the Peugeot again.
“I fought with the other drivers and we’re attacking for more so it’s great that we have had more progression here. The hardest thing now is to wait two months before driving in Canada before I can get these feelings again.”
