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Why Sainteloc Peugeot Rally Academy Is A Big Boost To The Erc
Confirmation of Saintéloc Peugeot Rally Academy’s entry in the FIA European Rally Championship is “very exciting news”, according to ERC General Co-ordinator and former international-level rally driver Jean-Pierre Nicolas.
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The Saintéloc Peugeot Rally Academy will enter up to three cars in the ERC in 2013 and will register for the prestigious ERC Teams’ Championship. Craig Breen (pictured) will tackle eight events in a 207 Super 2000, Jérémi Ancian will take part on six rounds in another 207 S2000 with Stéphane Laferbvre making four appearances in a 208 R2.
Nicolas, who won the ERC-counting Tour de Corse 40 years ago this season, is a big admirer of Breen, in particular, having watched his progress throughout last season.
“This is very exciting news for the ERC,” said Nicolas. “Craig Breen is a real up and coming driver and it’s important to have a driver like him in the ERC. I think he will do very well and it’s a good package for him. His team-mates also have a great deal of potential.”
TUSHKANOVA CONFIRMS LATVIA ERC ENTRY
Inessa Tushkanova’s efforts to secure the funds necessary to contest Rally Liepāja-Ventspils next month have paid off after the 25-year-old glamour model confirmed her entry on round two of the FIA European Rally Championship.
Tushkanova had feared she wouldn’t be able to start the snow rally in her Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX but now has the backing in place to tackle the Latvian event from 1-3 February, which means she can now focus on her main objective, as she explained.
“I don't have any hopes and dreams about big prizes in Latvia, but I find it very important to participate in the rally for my career since the level of ERC is very high and my plans for rally do not stop after one year.
Tushkanova, from Ukraine, also plans to contest September’s Rally Poland.
FROM THE TV TO THE ERC STAGES…
Zoltán Bessenyey won’t need to rehearse when he appears in front of Eurosport Events’ cameras during a round of the FIA ERC 2WD Championship. That’s because Bessenyey, from Hungary, is a TV presenter in his homeland.
Bessenyey, who plans to tackle between six to eight rounds of the ERC in 2013 with the Eurosol Honda Civic Type R team, hosts the weekly GarazsTV programme on Hungary’s biggest news channel, HÍRTV. GarazsTV, which means garage in English, has been on air for seven years and enjoys three repeats each week.
“I have a company making audio-visual projects,” said Bessenyey, who started in circuit racing before switching to rallying. “I’m the host of GarazsTV and we did already 350 episodes.”
IS THIS THE MOST APPROPRIATELY NAMED ERC COMPETITOR?
When Aljoša Novak begins his FIA ERC 2WD Championship campaign on next month’s Rally Liepāja-Ventspils, he’ll have one of the most appropriately named co-drivers by his side.
Matej Čar will partner Novak in a ŠKODA Fabia R2 on the Latvian snow event in what should be one of several planned appearances by the Slovenian crew in the ERC in 2013. Čar, however, is the Slovenian word for ‘wonder’ rather than a motor vehicle!
And here are five other appropriately named motorsport stars:
Bernard de Dryver: Belgian who enjoyed brief grand prix career
Nigel Corner: Historic racer from Great Britain
Will Power: Australian IndyCar champion
Scott Speed: Former Toro Rosso Formula One driver
Chris van der Drift: New Zealand single-seater racer
RAOUX FORCED TO PUT ERC START ON HOLD AGAIN
For the second event in succession Jean-Michel Raoux has been forced to cancel his planned appearance in the FIA European Rally Championship.
Raoux sprung to prominence winning the Intercontinental Rally Challenge 2WD Cup in 2011 and had been scheduled to contest the opening ERC rounds in Austria and Latvia.
While co-driver Laurent Magat’s work commitments prevented him from contesting the International Jännerrallye, damage to his Peugeot 207 Super 2000 on the world championship-counting Rallye Monte-Carlo recently has forced the Frenchman to withdraw his entry from Rally Liepāja-Ventspils.
Robert Consani, who had been expected to chase ERC 2WD Cup honours in Latvia in his Renault Clio R3, has also withdrawn from the event. Both drivers are expected to appear in the ERC before too long, however.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: ANTONÍN TLUSŤÁK
Antonín Tlusťák has been a regular in the FIA European Rally Championship for several seasons, scoring his maiden victory in the series on Rallye International du Valais in Switzerland in 2011. After finishing fourth in the final standings last year, Tlusťák will be hoping to improve on that position during an expanded programme with the GPD Mit Metal Racing Team from Czech Republic in 2013. He has recently recruited a new co-driver Lukáš Vyoral to replace Jan Škaloud. Tlusťák’s partnership with Škaloud dates back to 2008 but with Škaloud stopping due to business commitments, Vyoral will complete the season with the 30-year-old Tlusťák in a ŠKODA Fabia Super 2000.
PaddockTalk Perspective
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