Team Pirtek Peugeot drivers Hein Lategan and Visser du Plessis will add a new dimension to the South African Rally Championship for 2011 with their choice of the Peugeot 207 S2000 to contest the series. Du Plessis will run a 207 purchased from a team based in Portugal while Lategan has purchased a new 207 S2000 Evolution kit from Peugeot Sport in France.
The entry of Peugeot under the Team Pirtek Peugeot banner lifts the number of vehicle brands represented in South African rallying to four in what has become one of the most closely contested national rally championships in the world. It is anticipated that there could be as many as 20 S2000 cars competing in each of the eight rounds of the championship and with any one of the four makes represented capable of winning every time out.
Pirtek, the global hydraulic hose and fittings company, enter their fifth year of involvement in the South African National Rally championship. Having spent 3 years in N4, and bagging one championship title with Visser Du Plessis, the Pirtek team entered S2000 in 2010 with a two car team including Hein Lategan. CEO of Pirtek, Brendan Goss, says, “We are extremely excited about the 2011 season with the inclusion of the Peugeot S2000 cars.”
The Peugeot 207 was homologated for S2000 rallying by the FIA in 2007 and since that time has proved itself to be a strong contender and favourite amongst competitors. Hein Lategan’s car is the 96th unit delivered to an international customer.
A strong contender in national and regional championships, the performance of Peugeot 207 S2000 has made its mark in the International Rally Challenge, a fiercely competitive international rally series that includes the famous Monte Carlo Rally. Peugeot is a three-time winner in the IRC with series victories in 2007, 2008, and 2009.
A unique aspect of the IRC is that it does not allow the participation of factory supported teams with the focus rather on professional, but independent competitors. It is in this environment that Peugeot Sport has developed an extensive customer support infrastructure to back up its customers. An example of this is the secondment of a Peugeot Sport engineer to Team Pirtek Peugeot to assist with the preparation of the vehicles for their debut in South Africa at the Total Tour Natal Rally on the 25th and 26th of March.
This competitor model will be followed in South Africa with Team Pirtek Peugeot operating as a fully independent privateer team. Together with the technical backup provided by Peugeot Sport in France, Peugeot South Africa will provide a degree of marketing support and PR for the programme.
“Hein and Visser’s choice of Peugeot for their South African Rally Championship challenge is an exciting opportunity for Peugeot South Africa to gain representation in South African motorsport,” says Peugeot South Africa’s managing director, Jean Francois Bacos. “While this does not represent an official involvement in the championship by Peugeot the programme has the full blessing of both Peugeot Sport in France and Peugeot South Africa where we will be assisting where we can with marketing, PR and promotional activities linked to the team.”
STORY BY PEUGEOT
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