After securing victories on snow in Latvia, on asphalt in Ireland and on dirt in the Azores, the 208 T16 heads to Belgium’s famous Ypres Rally, round six of the 2015 FIA European Rally Championship (FIA ERC). The competition’s current leaders Craig Breen/Scott Martin will be joined by Stéphane Lefebvre/Stéphane Prévot, while Diogo Gago/Jorge Carvalho will be back in action in the ERC Junior class in their usual 208 R2.
The Kenotek Ypres Rally is one of the FIA ERC’s classic fixtures and one of the most important rounds of the season. It invariably attracts huge crowds, while competitors face a challenging cocktail of fast, narrow lanes with countless junctions and lined by deep ditches, leaving no margin for error. The event’s format is an added difficulty, since two-thirds of the total competitive distance – 170 kilometres – will be packed into a single day.
The Belgian event has attracted a high number of Peugeot 208 T16s and R2s. In addition to the two 208 T16s that will be in the hands of the Peugeot Rally Academy’s pair, there will be similar cars for the 2005 Ypres victor Kris Princen, who will be in the colours of Peugeot Belgium Luxemburg and who is currently second in the Belgian championship, as well as for Portugal’s Bruno Magalhães. Last year’s Peugeot Rally Academy runner Kevin Abbring and nine-time Ypres winner Freddy Loix stand out among the event’s other favourites.
Eleven of the 16 cars entered in the ERC Junior class are 208s R2, including a car for the competition’s pace-setter, Peugeot UK driver Chris Ingram. The list continues with competitors in the Peugeot 208 Rally Trophy Belux which is currently dominated by Cédric De Cecco.
Thanks to a score of three victories from the last three rounds, Craig Breen tops the provisional 2015 FIA ERC standings ahead of Ypres with a 14-point cushion over second-placed Kajetan Kajetanowicz. The Irishman has contested the famous Belgian event twice before, once in 2013 when he came third for the Peugeot Rally Academy in a 207 S2000, and again in 2014.