The Peugeot 208 WRX Squad Heads For France's Rallycross Classic

August 28, 2017 by Peugeot

•Sébastien Loeb, Timmy Hansen and Kevin Hansen will be out to fly Team Peugeot Hansen's colours high and proud when the FIA World Rallycross Championship visits the packed stadium at Lohéac, France, for Round 9 on September 2-3.

•With six podium finishes to show for its efforts since the start of the 2017 campaign, Team Peugeot Hansen arrives at World RX's French fixture sitting second in the Teams' standings. The mission facing Sébastien Loeb and Timmy Hansen at this venue they always enjoy and which has been happy hunting ground for them in the past is to score more points. Timmy Hansen took an assertive win at Lohéac in 2015, while Sébastien Loeb was third at his home clash this time last year.

•A test during the build-up to the French classic enabled the team to finetune the PEUGEOT 208 WRX's set-up to match the track's specific features. These include a particularly compact dirt section which makes it almost like an all-asphalt circuit.

•Team Peugeot Hansen's drivers are to take advantage of their trip to Lohéac to pay a visit to PSA's factory in nearby Rennes-La Janais. This facility is currently working at full capacity to cater for the popularity of the 5008, the brand's new seven-seat SUV.

Quote, unquote…

Kenneth Hansen (Team Principal):

'It really is great to be back at Lohéac. It's our home round on Peugeot territory, of course. We have often gone well there previously and we are targeting another successful weekend this season. We feel confident and hope to be part of the scrap for at least a top-three finish. We'll see how the action unfolds…'

Sébastien Loeb (PEUGEOT 208 WRX #9):

'It's always nice to race at Lohéac where the atmosphere is superb. It's the French round of the championship, so we will have plenty of supporters who, at the same time, will be expecting us to deliver. It's an interesting track with good overtaking opportunities and it produced some great racing last season. It's good to be able to pass without necessarily having to wait for your joker lap. I finished on the podium last year and would love to make it onto the top step this time round.'

Timmy Hansen (PEUGEOT 208 WRX #21):

'I have fantastic memories of coming first in the RX Light race at Lohéac in 2015. Winning in front of Peugeot's home crowd made me feel like I was on top of the world for a short moment. Looking out from the podium, there was a sea of people. A huge buzz. I can't wait to get there again this year. It's the biggest race of the rallycross season and, along with Höljes, is undeniably one of the highlights of Team Peugeot Hansen's year.'

Kevin Hansen (PEUGEOT 208 WRX #71):

'I'm thrilled at the prospect of competing at Lohéac as part of the Peugeot factory team in the world championship! There's always a huge turnout and I was fast there last year, so I think another good run is possible this time round.'

CIRCUIT
•Length: 1.088km

•Asphalt/dirt: 33% / 66%

•Lap record: 36.658s

TIMETABLE

Friday, September 1

•5:30pm: Free practice

Saturday, September 2

•8:45am: Free practice

•1:00pm: Q1

•3:20pm: Q2

Sunday, September 3

•8:30am: Warm-up

•10:05am: Q3

•10:40am: Q4

•3:00pm: Semi-finals and final

TEAM PEUGEOT HANSEN WEB SERIES

To give fans a foretaste of what awaits them at Lohéac, WorldRX Inside takes a look at the unique atmosphere of Happy Street, the party side of Höljes and another memorable highlight of the World RX year. https://youtu.be/AwUEGkqFCkI

FOCUS OF THE WEEK

The team's logistics chief Fabrice Godest has plenty on his plate preparing for Lohéac, the biggest encounter of the season as far as Team Peugeot Hansen is concerned. We introduce you to his work away from the limelight…

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER 8 ROUNDS

Drivers' classification

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