ERC – Peugeot with Breen and Ancian in the Canaries

Peugeot finally decided to enter the 207 S2000s of Craig Breen and Jérémi Ancian at the start of Rally of the Canaries, third event of the seasonERC played from March 21 to 23. After his second place at Rally Liepaja behind Jari Ketomaa, the reigning SWRC champion is preparing to face Robert Kubica who will make his debut with Citroën at the wheel of a DS3 RRC on this asphalt event. “It’s a great opportunity to run an additional rally. It is, moreover, a great rally. It will be my first participation in the Canaries but Paul (Nagle), my co-driver, who competed there before, told me a lot of good things about it. After riding in snow, cold and rain, it will be good to have a change. I hope to find the sun! At the end of Latvia, I did not change my objective. If we are competitive we will attack to get victory but the most important thing is to learn. This is the first time that I am an official driver, there are a lot of new things happening for me. It is therefore important to finish races to score points in the championship and gain experience. Nine rallies instead of eight offer more chances for the championship. On paper, I'm normally faster on asphalt than on dirt or snow. I like it when it's bumpy and dirty like in Ireland! Additionally, the 207 S2000 is an excellent car on asphalt. »

The Irishman will not be the only official representative of Peugeot since Jérémi Ancian will contest his first rally of the ERC season also in a 207 S2000. The winner of the Volant 207 decided to modify his program in order to try to participate in more events than the six initially planned with the Lion. “I was supposed to start in the Azores but, in agreement with Bruno Famin, we are starting with the Canaries. This event is currently in place of Sanremo, which gives me time to find additional budget to compete in seven or more rallies during the season. I'm obviously very happy to start earlier than expected because the break was starting to get long! I admit that I don't really know what awaits me, whether it's the rally itself or the competition. The most confusing thing is not going to be the asphalt, a surface that I like and which does not pose any particular problem for me, but rather the car. Until then, I had only driven 2-wheel drive except for one test in a Fiesta. WRC some time ago now. The Monday session before the rally won't be too much! I know that it will take me some time to adapt but I hope to position myself among the leaders as quickly as possible, especially when we have a car that has the potential to win. »