Bouffier will spearhead Peugeot’s effort in Cyprus

The 2010 IRC campaign draws to a close with this weekend’s visit to Cyprus (November 4-6) which will host the twelfth and final round of the series. For a decade, the Cyprus Rally was a regular fixture on the calendar of the World Rally Championship (WRC), but this year sees it included in the IRC’s programme for the very first time. Frenchman Bryan Bouffier leads the ranks of the Peugeot 207 S2000 drivers who have chosen to make the trip out to the Mediterranean island.

One of the sport’s slowest, roughest events switches to a mixed-surface format

At the time when the Cyprus Rally qualified for the WRC, it was the slowest, twistiest and roughest round of the championship, with stages that used barely graded mountain tracks where average speeds were frequently less than 60kph. Today, in order to place more of an emphasis on driver ability, its organisers have decided that each test will feature a mix of loose and asphalt portions, but that hasn’t made the challenge any easier.

Bryan Bouffier – surprise guest

"On the contrary, this move has made the event more complex still," believes Bryan Bouffier who will be spearheading Peugeot’s effort in Cyprus. "Gravel still predominates, so the cars will be set up accordingly and will run on gravel tyres. The challenge will be to look after the car, brakes and tyres so as not to push them too hard on the sealed-surface sections. In this respect, I will be helped by the natural balance of my 207 S2000."

Although he knows his car extremely well, Bryan Bouffier has never previously set foot in Cyprus. "Everything will be new to me, so I will have a great deal to take in. I haven’t driven the 207 S2000 on the loose since June and, to my knowledge, it has never been asked to contest such a rough event before. I still feel confident, though. I know how much work was done last spring and over the summer months by Peugeot Sport’s engineers in order to optimise the 207 S2000’s potential, since I was tasked with a high proportion of the driving. The quality of the evolutions that are now available was demonstrated by the performance of our cars on the Barum Rally Zlin, in Sanremo and in Scotland, although different incidents have so far prevented us from converting that potential into top results. The 207 S2000 has nonetheless recovered its status as the car to beat in its category, and I’m not certain it even lost that position. I will do all I can in Cyprus to show that the improvements are just as effective in hot, hard-packed, rough conditions."

Bryan Bouffier will be driving a Romo Motorsport-run 207 S2000, while the team’s other car will be in the hands of Austria’s Franz Wittmann.

A positive inaugural year for Peugeot Turkey

Peugeot Turkey will also have a 207 S2000 in Cyprus for lady driver Burçu Cetinkaya who recently notched up her first IRC points in Scotland. "This year I have been familiarising myself with the niceties of international rallying on gravel and asphalt. Here, we face the challenge of mixed-surface stages which are apparently very rough in many places. It won’t be easy, but I’m delighted to be taking part."

It is important to note that the Cyprus Rally will be followed by Sunday’s ’Love Cyprus Golden Stage Rally’ (November 7) which is based on two attempts at a 25km mixed-surface stage. The event will be broadcast live on Eurosport from 11am to 12 noon CET (Golden Stage Run 1) and from 2pm until 3pm CET (Golden Stage Run 2).