Monster Peugeot 208 Pikes Peak racer takes to famous mountain
With just 2 weeks left until the full race day, the Peugeot Sport team have completed further testing of their 2013 Unlimited Class challenger; a hand-built, full-race 208 with a snorting 875bhp for rally-driving-legend-pilot Sebastian Loeb to play with.
But it’s definitely not all play on the famously dangerous Pikes Peak mountain course in Colorado, USA, with perilous drops most of the way up the steeply climbing, 156-corner course. It’s a true battle of man and machine versus mountain, and so far it’s so good for the Peugeot Sport team.
While no teams are allowed to run the full Pikes Peak course ahead of the 30th June race day, sections of the course can be used for practice. Loeb took to sections of the course in the 208 T16 Pikes Peak racer to learn and understand the multitude of corners and bends; something that his nine WRC-title experience will no doubt help him with. And even with 875bhp to tame, the flying Frenchman sounds happy enough.
“I feel very confident with the car,” said Loeb. “That’s a reassuring start, if only because of the speeds we get up to here. We are already getting close to the limit in many places. All we need to do now is make some detail changes and we will be ready for the Big Day!”
With three more official tests sessions available to the team before the big race, there should be plenty of time for Loeb to get his Pikes Peak eye in, and for the team to tune the 208 T16 to perfectly suit Seb’s driving style and pace.
Posted by Louise Clark