#sebastienloebracing up against the four seasons !
Sébastien Loeb Racing continued its learning curve in the World Rallycross Championship in Portugal. Grégoire Demoustier added two more points to his tally in the overall classification after a weekend in which the team had to adapt to changeable weather conditions.
The second round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship in Portugal took place in an amazing range of weather conditions for April, which culminated in snow falling in the final heat!
With rain, sun and snow in two days, the Sébastien Loeb Racing team that supports the Belgian driver amassed a considerable amount of experience for the rest of the season.
Demoustier was in 14th position in Q1, 15th in Q2, but could not do any better than 17th in Q3 due to a turbo issue on his Peugeot 208 WRX. The team quickly solved the problem, and he immediately forgot all about it and set off in Q4 with the bit between his teeth putting on his best performance of the weekend with the 13th time.
Nevertheless, the overall result of the season’s second race is a positive one for SLR as its driver scored more points before the French outfit heads off to Belgium for the third round of the championship (11-12-13 May).
Grégoire Demoustier (Sébastien Loeb Racing driver): “We’ve had unbelievable weather this weekend with the four seasons in two days! With snow, rain and sun the temperatures kept changing. We again learned a lot about the car and from my side my driving continues to improve. For the first time this year we suffered some mechanical glitches in Q3. Luckily, the team quickly analysed the problem and found the solution in record time so we could line up for Q4. I really take my hat off to them. In addition to their work there’s always a good ambience in the squad and it’s vitally important. Everybody gets on well. We’re always in a good mood from Friday to Sunday while continuing to progress all the time so we’ve got all the right ingredients to enjoy a great season. We had bad weather in Spain and here we had a mixture of everything so I hope it’ll be better in Belgium. I’m confident – it’s always fine at home! To come back to the sporting side I’m satisfied overall with my weekend: There’s still work to be done and we’re moving forward.”
Franck Tiné (Sébastien Loeb Racing Sporting Director): “The team again learned a lot more at this meeting. Grégoire is feeling increasingly at home despite his lack of track time compared to the other drivers, and we’re making giant strides with every kilometre we cover. To sum up, rallycross could be considered as a mixture of our experience in circuit racing and rallies, but it really is a sport in itself with its own special rules. The fact that we’re just learning the ropes makes it all the more motivating for us. In the middle of works teams we have to act quickly in exactly the right fashion and never blot our copybook in this very high-level environment. Our team members come from both circuits and rallies and this mixture of competences is working like a dream. Above and beyond the pressure of entering for a world championship in a branch of the sport that we’re tackling for the first time – what’s more the one for which Sébastien’s entered – there’s a fabulous team spirit in this group and it’s a pleasure to share these moments together around Greg.”
Photos Credit : FIAWORLDRALLYCROSS.com
