Just yesterday we were talking about Sebastien Loeb's forthcoming attempt to celebrate 25 years since Peugeot triumphed on Pikes Peak with a revival of the iconic T16 badge, this time on a
mad all-carbon 208
. With this and some already successful GT racing in a McLaren 12C GT3 Loeb's phased retirement from frontline WRC seems to be going rather well. What, you were expecting him to join the local bridge society and lounge about in his slippers?
Ogier and Ingrassia on top of the world (and a Polo)
But as VW celebrates three out of four WRC wins with the latest for Sebastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia in Portugal the
pressure from Citroen
rescue the championship
campaign must be growing.
True, Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinenmanaged second place but ended up sandwiched between Ogier and the other Polo of Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila who completed the longest stage of the event with rear-wheel drive only after a front drive shaft snapped. The newly added 'third VW' under the new Motorsport II banner of Andreas Mikkelsen Mikko Markkula came sixth, VW's lead in the constructor and driver championships now firmly rooted. And with momentum. Hyundai must be watching closely ahead its arrival into the fray next year, as reported last week.
Honda is gunning for Pikes Peak win too
Meanwhile more pictures and a little more information about Loeb's Pikes Peak 208 have been revealed, Peugeot teasing that the full tech spec of the car and other information will be released in due course. This comes as Honda has also boasted of chasing 'record breaking success' at Pikes Peak too. 10 Hondas have got official entries to the event, including motorbikes and quads, but the firm has "an eye toward challenging for the overall victory, as well as setting a record for the number of classes entered by a single manufacturer."
Loeb's 'retirement' just got a whole lot more interesting... At least there's no diary clash with Pikes Peak on June 29-30 and the WRC rounds at Sardinia (June 20-23) and Finland (August 1-3).