Peugeot’s 308 Racing Cup car has taken part in the TCR Balance of Performance test in Valencia, in order for the car to be assessed and ready to race in the various TCR series, but the French manufacturer has moved to clarify Sébastien Loeb Racing’s participation in the test.
SLR, which will run three Citroën C-Elysée WTCCs in the 2016 World Touring Car Championship, were providing assistance to Peugeot Sport in Valencia, but they have clarified this was from a logistics perspective.
“Since last year, when we started working on the new 308 Racing Cup for our one make trophy, we realised that the car was perfectly matching the spirit of TCR,” said Florent Meilhaud, the Peugeot Sport project manager for the programme. “The logical consequence was to approach the promoter of the International Series to see how the 308 Racing Cup could fit in the championship,” he added.
RCZ Racing Cup French champion and former ETCC front-runner Aurélien Comte drove the 308 Racing Cup car during the test, while Sébastien Loeb Racing provided support.
“We came to Valencia to show the car and to understand where it is compared to the others. But we also would like to understand what we can do to join the series in a near future,” Meilhaud said.
The Peugeot has an interesting challenge for the TCR scrutineers to balance, as it’s the only car being considered for TCR with a 1.6 litre turbocharged engine, as opposed to the 2.0 litre turbos of its potential rivals.
“We think that our car has a strong potential thanks to a very good chassis and its light weight. We trust the TCR technical department to establish a Balance of Performance that could help the 308 Racing Cup to be competitive.”