Peugeot-Hansen and a strengthened France-Sweden cooperation

This week the FIA World Rallycross Championship fans and media were able to see the updated Peugeot 208 RX model that will be used by the Team Peugeot-Hansen during the 2015 season. The plans for this year follows the 2014 ones and two cars will be entered.

The inaugural season of the World RX brought some good results to the Kenneth Hansen-led crew, as they conquered five podiums and a victory, four of them being with the Swedish part of the team, Timmy Hansen, who stays with the team for another full-season attack.

The only change is that the French presence in the Swedish team gets bigger by the inclusion of Davy Jeanney in the lineup. Jeanney did some rounds of the 2014 season, and he already had his Peugeot machinery experience in the middle of his Citroën outings, as he raced at Lydden Hill with a 208 GTi from Albatec Racing.

Bruno Fanin, Peugeot Sport’s Director, mentioned that a closer approach to the regulations borders will give the 208 RX the performance that’s needed for their goals, which is to win races and be a serious contender for the Drivers and Teams Championships.

In addition to the commitments of the main team this year, the Hansen Talent Development program will bring the Super 1600 race winner Janis Baumanis to race selected events in another Peugeot 208, expecting to follow the steps of Reinis Nitiss, as the Estonian driver progressed to the upper class last year and won at Hell, Norway.

Baumanis’ expectations are modest for 2015, as the year he will spend with the Hansen team will help him to learn about how to perform well in the World RX supercars, but his plans are ambitious for 2016, as he wishes to do a full-time campaign, and the acquired experience could make him competitive enough for a full season ride.