Silk Way Rally – Desprès celebrates his first car victory

Cyril Desprès signed his first car victory in his fourth engagement after having won the Silk Way Rally with a lead of 25 minutes over Yazeed Al Rajhi (Mini) at the end of the 14 stages of the event linking Moscow (Russia) to Beijing (China).

The last day of competition, however, was not easy for the pilot Peugeot since he had a technical alert on his 2008 DKR16.

“It’s exhilarating, incredible and we still have difficulty realizing, comments the winner of the Silk Way Rally. This is the first time we have won a rally with David. We learned so much between Moscow and Beijing! We almost won one special out of two. We gained confidence and pleasure. The Peugeot Sport team did a remarkable job and I thank them. The car is great, I really like it in a car now. »

Sébastien Loeb arrived at the finish line in seventh place. The nine-time champion of WRC could have played for victory without his four-hour penalty.

“We have calmed down since the Dakar, and we have worked a lot, underlines the Alsatian. Now, after the Silk Way Rally, we come away with even more positives: we logged miles, that is to say a lot of time together in the car, struggling, driving, collaborating. Our duo has improved in language, codes, reflexes, pressure management, mechanics, racing rhythm. We work together to stay in the match, more than in the WRC where Daniel (Elena) took care of the road alone. There we sometimes look for our directions together, we discuss the tracks, we help each other and listen to each other, we leave each other space, we trust each other. We know how to ride at a good pace. I also think that we have clearly printed our mistakes, in the dunes or in the navigation, and that we will not make them again for the next race. The next step for me: another round of the WRX world championship in Canada… then a vacation. »

As for Stéphane Peterhansel, the multiple winner of the Dakar ranks 15th after rolling over during the event.

“The Peugeot 2008 DKR is truly an incredible car. It worked wonderfully. She performed well every day. Thanks to the entire Peugeot Sport team. The race was very interesting for us. We had the chance to drive on many terrains and in sometimes difficult conditions with the intense heat. We still have regrets because we would have liked to win this race. We are very happy for Cyril and David (Castera). Cyril stopped motorcycling two years ago. He's already winning in the car, he's doing the job! »
 
Beyond the victory, Peugeot is also pleased with the good reliability of its vehicles.

“We are of course very satisfied to have triumphed in this extremely difficult rally where we were able to highlight the qualities of the Peugeot 2008 DKR which, as we have seen with the very low number of incidents, is now arriving at a good maturity level. Our objectives were to gain further experience with our car and our crews, to bring all 3 cars to Beijing and to win the race. All three are reached! », underlines Bruno Famin, director of Peugeot Sport.

Silk Way Rally rankings

Discover the report of the Silk Way Rally produced by our special correspondent in issue 2073 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.