Sébastien Loeb And The Peugeot 208 WRX Collect Third Consecutive Third Place In Canada

Team Peugeot Hansen consolidated its second place in the 2017 World Rallycross Championship standings at Round 8 in Trois Rivières, Canada, where Sébastien Loeb claimed his third top-three finish in a row.

•A polished performance saw Sébastien Loeb steer his PEUGEOT 208 WRX 2017 to third place in Canada. Despite making unavoidable contact with Andreas Bakkerud's stricken car in Q2, he succeeded in qualifying on row three for Sunday afternoon's final and went on to secure Team Peugeot Hansen's sixth podium result of the season.

•It turned out to be a more complex weekend for Timmy Hansen who was halted by a transmission problem in Q2. He bounced back into the Top 12, though, thanks to an assertive run in Q4 which earned him a footing in the final phase. The Swede continued on his momentum to take second place in his semi-final before a strong performance in the final saw him appear in the lead. Unfortunately, his run was then stopped by an engine problem which prevented him from taking the flag. Sixth place sufficed, however, to climb to fifth in the provisional Drivers' standings.

•Kevin Hansen was on form again in his 2016-spec PEUGEOT 208 WRX. He qualified once more for the semi-finals, finishing just shy of a slot in the final.

Quote, unquote…

Kenneth Hansen (Team Principal):

'Saturday proved a little laborious for us due to a number of technical problems, while Sébastien was unable to avoid hitting Bakkerud's car which was stationery in the middle of the track during Q2. Happily, the tables turned on Sunday and our three cars all reached the final phase. Perhaps we could have opted for a different strategy for Sébastien in his semi-final but at least he and Timmy made it through to the final. Unfortunately, Timmy suffered an engine problem but Sébastien clinched another podium finish, so there was every reason to be pleased with the outcome.'

Sébastien Loeb (PEUGEOT 208 WRX #9), 3rd

'It wasn't an easy weekend for me. We were down on luck in Q1 and Q2, but the third and fourth qualifying sessions went better. I think second place might have been possible in my semi-final, but no matter because the final went well for me. I honestly don't think I could have hoped for any better than third after starting from row three.'

Timmy Hansen (PEUGEOT 208 WRX #21), 6th

'It's so frustrating. I was leading the final when an engine problem prevented me from reaching the finish. It was a huge shame. I really feel we closed the gap to Volkswagen a little this weekend. We also made some very good starts and we had good top speed down the straight, so that is all encouraging.'

Kevin Hansen (PEUGEOT 208 WRX #71)

'I'm really pleased to have qualified for the semi-finals again. That was my objective, even though my 2016-specification car is clearly less competitive than most of the 2017 cars. My semi-final went well. I pushed as hard as I could and was running fourth when I thought I might gain a place because Timmy and Baumanis were locked in a battle just ahead of me. Fourth in my semi-final wasn't a bad result, though, after the speed I managed to show in qualifying.'

FINAL POSITIONS - TROIS RIVIERES (August 6, 2017)

1.Johan Kristoffersson (Volkswagen Polo GTI)

2.Petter Solberg (Volkswagen Polo GTI)

3.Sébastien Loeb (PEUGEOT 208 WRX)

4.Kevin Eriksson (Ford Fiesta)

5.Toomas Heikkinen (Audi S1

6.Timmy Hansen (PEUGEOT 208 WRX)

PROVISIONAL STANDINGS AFTER EIGHT ROUNDS

Drivers' standings

1.Johan Kristoffersson (Volkswagen Polo GTI), 211 points

2.Petter Solberg (Volkswagen Polo GTI), 176 points

3.Mattias Ekström (Audi S1), 158 points

4.Sébastien Loeb (PEUGEOT 208 WRX), 144 points

5.Timmy Hansen (PEUGEOT 208 WRX), 135 points

6.Andreas Bakkerud (Ford Focus RS), 128 points

7.Ken Block (Ford Focus), 89 points

8.Kevin Eriksson (Ford Fiesta), 83 points

9.Toomas Heikkinen (Audi S1), 78 points

10.Timo Scheider (Ford Fiesta), 74 points

Teams' standings

1.Volkswagen PSRX, 387 points

2.Team Peugeot Hansen, 279 points

3.EKS Audi, 236 points

4.Hoonigan Racing Division, 217 points

5.MJP Racing Team Austria, 168 points

6.STARD, 124 points

ABOUT RALLYCROSS

Rallycross events use mixed-surface asphalt/dirt (60%/40%) circuits of about one kilometre in length and can feature one or more jumps. The drivers are knocked out as the weekend progresses and only the six fastest and bravest of them get to contest the final.

Photo credit: Peugeot
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