Neuville and Peugeot reflect on the 2011 season

The Peugeot Belgium-Luxemburg crew was the only subsidiary team at the start of this weekend’s Cyprus Rally, but their joy was unfortunately short-lived.

After emerging at the top of the leaderboard by Friday lunchtime, Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul were halted during the second loop of stages because of an alternator issue preceded by a puncture.

“Everything was going perfectly up to the fourth stage,” lamented Thierry Neuville after his retirement. “My 207 S2000 was very nicely balanced and I was able to stay on the ideal line to post some quick times. There was no impact, but my rear right tyre suddenly went flat. I stopped to change the wheel but I spotted blue smoke coming out of the bonnet just as I was about to get going again. The alternator warning light also came on. I completed the stage at slow speed but I had no way to repair the problem, so I wasn’t able to go any further.”

Up to that point, Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul seemed to be in control. They were second on the morning’s first stage and went on to claim the second test in emphatic style. They completed the loop with a lead of 8.8s over Andreas Mikkelsen, while Jan Kopecky was already 21.2s adrift.

“The priority I set myself was to refrain from taking any risks on the loose and then profit from the asphalt portions to try to pull clear of my rivals,” reported the Peugeot Belgium-Luxemburg driver. “I followed that plan to the letter on Friday morning, but my puncture and alternator failure during the afternoon meant that the strategy served no purpose in the end.”

Thierry Neuville was able to challenge for the lead early on thanks to the grasp of Peugeot Sport and Peugeot Belgium-Luxemburg’s technical teams of the best way to cope with the challenge represented by a mixed-surface rally which featured an equal split between gravel and asphalt.

“Along with Thierry, we focused on the car’s balance and ensuring we had the right set-up changes available for the different types of terrain,” said Bertrand Vallat the Peugeot Sport engineer in charge of the 207 S2000’s design and development. “On the loose, the 207 S2000 was as quick as the best of them in the hands of Thierry. On asphalt, it was clearly the fastest car. Had it not been for the incidents that stopped him here in Cyprus today, Thierry Neuville and the Peugeot 207 S2000 had the potential to fight for the 2011 IRC Drivers’ Challenge.”

Cause for satisfaction this season

“We are delighted with the number of subsidiaries who decided to commit to an IRC programme this season, either in the form of a full campaign, or on an event-by-event basis,” declared Frédéric Bertrand, the manager of Peugeot Sport’s Customer Competition Department. “The 207 S2000 is as popular as it ever been. We have now sold no fewer than 99 cars, and the 100th is in the process of being built. The loyalty of its users is justified by its performance and reliability.”

Indeed, in the course of 2011, Peugeot notched up nine podiums and three IRC victories by winning the three ‘legendary’ fixtures of the series, namely the Monte Carlo, the Tour de Corse and the Sanremo.

“It’s always more satisfying to win a classic, especially when that win is achieved in such an impressive way,” continued Frédéric Bertrand. “Bryan Bouffier profited from the snow to pull clear on the Rallye Monte-Carlo. In Corsica, Thierry Neuville dominated from flag to flag over the full three days. In contrast, however, he only clinched his Sanremo win in the dying moments.”

The enthusiasm of the subsidiaries

Peugeot Sport’s presence in the IRC was based on a programme of technical support for its customers on one hand and, on the other, by favouring the programmes of its subsidiaries and privateer drivers with help from TOTAL, an important partner of the brand.

“Peugeot Belgium-Luxemburg participated in this year’s IRC with Thierry Neuville, Peugeot UK with Guy Wilks, Peugeot France with Bryan Bouffier and Peugeot Portugal with Bruno Magalhaès,” listed Frédéric Bertrand. “Other subsidiaries, such as Hungary and the Czech Republic, put in strong runs on selected events.”

A positive result

“Peugeot France kicked off the year in style with Bryan Bouffier’s win in Monaco,” recalls Frédéric Bertrand. “After that, although he needed time on those events which he was contesting for the first time, like the Azores and Scotland, Bryan secured a number of top results that enabled him to finish the 2011 Drivers’ Challenge in sixth place.”

Bouffier was the second-best Peugeot driver in the final standings, chased by Guy Wilks.
“The 207 S2000 was new to Guy, so he too needed a little time to adapt,” notes Frédéric Bertrand. “He showed that he had the speed, and also that he has a real competitive instinct. Unfortunately, the latter occasionally led to him not finishing events as a result of offs. That’s such a shame because I believe that some top results would have followed with a little more luck and concentration.”

The look back at the year continued with a review of Peugeot Portugal’s season. “We knew from the outset that it wouldn’t be easy for Bruno Magalhaès to challenge for victory on individual IRC events,” says Frédéric Bertrand. “After the first two or three rallies, he realised that he needed to take a fresh approach to the way he took pace-notes and to the way he organised his workload, with the help of his co-driver. Once that was done, his performances improved considerably, especially in Ypres, the Azores and Sanremo. Unfortunately his runs on those events were troubled by a variety of incidents. I sincerely hope that this year will prove useful to him for the future.”

Last but not least, Frédéric Bertrand looked back at Thierry Neuville’s campaign… “He was the only driver among our subsidiary teams who scored two wins in 2011. Up until the very last round, he was in the running for the title and had a real chance of winning it, because he was in the lead here in Cyprus before being stopped in his tracks. Up until his retirement, he was potentially the winner of the 2011 IRC Challenge. That shows how impressively he has come on over the year.”