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The five rallies of the BFGoodrich Drivers Team 2008
Vodafone Rally de Portugal
Miguel Campos/Paulo Babo (Peugeot 207 S2000 N°16)
The first driver chosen to represent the BFGoodrich Drivers Team in 2008 was Miguel Campos who was selected from a list of 48 applicants. The Portuguese driver completed the final stage of the rally in eighth place overall but failed to reach the finish ceremony at the Estadio de Algarve following an alternator problem on the final road section.
The Vodafone Rally de Portugal was the second round of the 2008 Intercontinental Rally Challenge and kicked off with a super-special through the streets of Faro in front of thousands of spectators. Serious business began the following day when competitors headed for the hills of the Algarve. Miguel Campos lost a minute when he was unsighted by the dust of a competitor ahead of him on the road, yet still succeeded in finishing the first leg inside the top-ten, just behind an ex-European Champion and ahead of a former Junior World Champion!
Running on hard compound BFGoodrich g-Force Gravel tyres, the BFGoodrich Drivers Team Peugeot 207 S2000 managed to climb two places the following day before coming to a halt just 45km short of the podium!
Belgium Westhoek Ypres Rally
Patrick Snijers/Wim Soensen (Peugeot 207 S2000 N°17)
The second phase of the BFGoodrich Drivers Team tour took place within the framework of the Rallye d’Ypres where the operation met with resounding success, both on the stages and with the Belgian spectators. Seeded at number 17, the team's Peugeot 207 S2000 finished in fifth place in the hands of Patrick Snijers who was given a warm welcome all weekend by the huge Belgian crowds.
Patrick Snijers, who was chosen from 54 applicants, was contesting the Belgian classic for the 30th time and was secretly hoping to notch up a fifth win in Flanders, or at least a 12th podium finish. The 1994 European Champion and seven-time Champion of Belgium was fifth at the end of the opening day, which was something of an exploit given that this was his first ever outing in a Peugeot 207 S2000 and on BFGoodrich g-Force Profiler tyres.
The following day, Patrick was one of four drivers – along with Rossetti, Basso and Casier – who were still in a chance of finishing on the third step of podium prior to the final stage of the long and tiring second leg. That was the marathon Mont Kemmel test (42km) which was run at night-time and which saw Patrick Snijers round off the weekend with a highly commendable fifth place overall.
Barum Rally Zlin
Pavel Valousek/ Zdenek Hruza (Peugeot 207 S2000 N°17)
The third leg of the BFGoodrich Drivers Team operation took it to a part of Eastern Europe where rallying is immensely popular, the Czech Republic. The team's colours were defended by the little known Pavel Valousek, 30, who produced the best drive of his career to clinch fourth overall in the Kronos-prepared Peugeot 207 S2000.
The 38th Barum Rally Zlin attracted a glittering entry which starred not only all the top IRC names but also the best drivers from the region's different national championships. There were more than 20 S2000 cars at the start and it was clear from the outset that the competition would be particularly fierce over the fast and technical demanding stages of the Zlin region.
Despite only covering a limited number of kilometres during his pre-event test, Pavel Valousek emerged from the early, awesome Pindula stage in fourth place and a quick, consistent performance throughout the opening day enabled him to figure in fifth place at the end of the day, a mere handful of seconds behind the defending IRC Champion!
The stages of the second and final day took place in Pavel Valousek's own back yard and he was determined not to let the opportunity to shine on home soil slip by. The driver of the BFGoodrich-backed Peugeot 207 S2000 posted a second- and a third-fastest time to conclude the weekend with fourth place to show for his outstanding drive.
Rally Principe de Asturias
Sergio Vallejo/Diego Vallejo (Peugeot 207 S2000 N°8)
Following the success encountered by the 2008 BFGoodrich Drivers Team operation in the Czech Republic, the team went on to visit Spain where the Vallejo brothers were chosen to drive the Peugeot 207 S2000 on the challenging Rally Principe de Asturias. Sergio and Diego finished in seventh place.
A former factory Fiat driver, and second in the Spanish Championship before the start, Sergio Vallejo – who usually campaigns a Porsche GT3 – is known to be a quick, spectacular driver. He never fails to impress his fans who turned out in particularly large numbers to support him in the hills of the Asturias region, despite the rain.
Indeed, the weather was dismal all weekend and that obviously didn't help Sergio Vallejo who was forced to familiarise himself with the niceties of the four-wheel drive Peugeot 207 S2000 in pouring rain, and getting tyre calls right was another key issue. The Spaniard figured as high as sixth place in the course of the first leg, but an overly-cautious tyre call saw him fall to ninth spot by the end of the day.
The second leg saw Sergio respond by passing compatriot Luis Monzon to clinch seventh place which was enough to put him back on top in the provisional Spanish Rally Championship standings.
Rallye Sanremo
Andrea Torlasco/Michele Brega (Peugeot 207 S2000 N°30)
The fifth and final port of call for the 2008 BFGoodrich Drivers Team was the legendary Rallye Sanremo which this year celebrated its 50th edition. Youngster Andrea Torlasco was chosen from the 133 candidates to drive the Peugeot 207 S2000 with which he, too, finished inside the top-ten, putting a fittingly successful end to the inaugural BFGoodrich Drivers Team programme.
Aged just 24, Andrea Torlasco was the youngest of the five drivers to represent the BFGoodrich Drivers Team this year and he is unlikely to forget the experience for some time to come. More accustomed to national level events, the Sanremo was completely new to him, as were the IRC-winning Peugeot 207 S2000 and his World Championship-winning BFGoodrich tyres! He also faced stiff opposition, with three-time Sanremo winner Didier Auriol running just ahead of him on the road throughout the opening day which included the longest stage of the 2008 Intercontinental Challenge, a 60km marathon run in darkness.
Andrea Torlasco approached his mission cautiously and maturely to begin with, before upping his pace to round off the first leg in a provisional points-scoring position (8th), an excellent display given his lack of experience at this level. His objective the following day was to stay ahead of the works Abarth driver Abarth Anton Alèn who succeeded in squeezing past despite an eloquent fourth-fastest time for Andrea Torlasco who succeeded in bringing his Peugeot 207 S2000 home inside the top-ten without a scratch.
Regulations
- The IRC is open to S2000, Group N, Group A and A7 class cars.
- Any driver can score Driver and Constructor championship points if the manufacturer is entered into the championship.
- Points scale for each rally: 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point for the 1st to the 8th driver entitled to score.