The ambitions of the “newbies”

The IRC is becoming more professional. In Ypres, Skoda is present with its official team of two cars. The same goes for Abarth, even if the two Grande Punto S2000 belong to the Team Grifone. At the house of Peugeot , with five cars and no less than 59 people on the ground, the Kronos structure impresses.

Alongside these impressive forces, other manufacturers are trying to carve out a little place in the sun in their own way. At shakedown, the Opel Corsa OPC driven by Alex Bengué set the 14th fastest time, 5”2 from the leading trio. Guy Wilks placed his Proton Neo Satria in 15th place, 6”0 behind the leaders, while Patrick Snijers, four-time winner of the event, placed his VW Polo in 18th position, 7”3 behind the best.

The design and construction of these S2000s were similar. In all three cases, it was the initiative of a private preparer (MSD for Opel, MEM for Proton and René Georges Rally Sport for VW) who convinced the brands concerned to complete the approval of the vehicle. Unlike Abarth, Peugeot and Skoda, the strike force of a major manufacturer was not required. This is the advantage and it was one of the goals of the S2000 technical regulations… but the development and fine-tuning of these cars are carried out according to the means of the private preparer. It makes a difference.

Note that, unlike Proton and VW, Opel is not registered in the IRC. This means that Alex Bengué and Mathieu Baumel are participating in the Belgium Ypres Rally… but not in the fifth round of the IRC 2009. This will not prevent us from following the performance of the Opel Corsa OPC S2000 with attention.