BELL AND BILHAM GET TO GRIPS WITH PEUGEOT’S NEWEST RALLY CHALLENGER
Peugeot Rally Cup Iberica round winner Ruairi Bell and BTRDA frontrunner Sam Bilham both got a taste of the new Peugeot 208 Rally 4 last week.
Peugeot Sport hosted the invitational test near Fafe in Portugal, with ERC3 Junior champion Efren Llarena on hand to offer advice on the car which is a successor to the Peugeot 208 R2.
Both Bell and Bilham were invited by the PT Racing team. Bell competed with the squad in 2019, and both were impressed with the new machine, which is intended to rival M-sport’s Ford Fiesta R2.
“It was really, really enjoyable to drive,” Bell told MN. “I think they have done very well. I was really comfortable immediately getting in.
“The car is very well designed and accessible to all ranges of abilities.
Llarena took us out in the second car and that was absolutely mega. It was quite important for me as there were just a couple of things that I noticed I’ve been missing this year [with my driving], so I think I learned from it [sitting next to Llarena].”
Bilham, meanwhile, was surprised at the car’s performance, with preorders set to open in January.
“It was very planted,” he said. “I expected the back end to be [more] loose but it just sat there and went where you wanted it to go.
“The power it had from such a small engine was quite surprising, more so the torque; it just picked up instantly.
“In that respect with it being a turbo car it was similar to the R5 in the way it picked up, obviously not as vicious if you like, but I was surprised in a way.”