Autosportfoto

Giordano claims debut win for Loeb squad

Sébastien Loeb Racing made a successful rally debut on sunday when Quentin Giordano scored a start-to-finish victory at Rallye de Meuse in France.

Giordano finished with a 49sec advantage in his Peugeot 208 T16 after winning all six stages at the asphalt event at Gondrecourt-le-Château, which Loeb's squad entered as a warm-up for the French driver's WRC 2 programme.

Loeb's team has enjoyed circuit success in previous years, but this season is its first in rallying. In addition to Giordano's programme, the team will also support Terry Folb in the FIA Junior WRC.

"It was a really big test because we had done little driving," said Giordano. "I really wanted to do well to mark the team's rally debut and to honour them for doing everything to provide me with the best car.

"I immediately felt at ease at the wheel of the 208 T16, it's remarkable, and this first victory augurs well for the rest of our programme."

Team co-founder Dominique Heintz said the team had done a ‘titanic' job in preparing the car.

"A victory is never simple to achieve, there are always issues. We knew we were expected to win and couldn't make any mistakes, we made a perfect run. Mission accomplished with this success, which will always be historic for the team," he said.

Giordano, who finished fourth in WRC 2 at Rallye Monte-Carlo in a DS 3 R5 run by PH Sport, will begin his WRC 2 alliance with Loeb's squad at Rally Italia Sardegna (9 - 12 June). He will also compete in Poland, Finland, Germany, Corsica and Britain.

He will also tackle several French Cup rallies, the first of which is Rallye Epernay - Vin de Champagne (1 - 3 April).

Zdroj: wrc.com