WEST TRYING TO PLOT 306 MAXI OUTING AGAINST LOEB
Double MN Circuit champion and WRC star share passion for Peugeot model
Double Motorsport News Circuit Rally champion Chris West is hoping to take on fellow Peugeot 306 Maxi enthusiast and nine-time World Rally champion Sebastien Loeb in events later this year.
West and Loeb both own
306 Maxis, with the former using his to win the last two MN titles while the latter has competed sporadically in his car which has been built to period works’ specification.
“Sebastien Loeb has a Maxi and there’s a lot of them out there abroad, I want to try and mix it with them,” West told MN.
“I’ve spoken to him on Facebook. He’s seen it, there’s so many photos of my car, and because he has one he’s nosey, looking at what else is out there.
“I want to be on the fast flowing and open stuff. I like technical stuff and I’m good at technical stuff, but I like the triple figures, the fear side of it and the danger, I want to be out doing 140mph down narrow lanes.”
West’s car has a 2.5-litre Smith and Jones engine as opposed to the original two-litre Peugeot engine, with the car being built out of a works test bodyshell and driven in period by Francois Delecour, but it has more modern machinery underneath.
West confirmed that he would return to the MN championship later this year, but only part-time as he looks to take on more closed-road rallies.
“I’m planning to do the asphalt championship this year and see what it’s like on closed road rallies like the Manx and places like that, to try and prove that it and I can still be quick on closedroad events as well as circuit events,” added West, who most recently won the Abingdon Carnival Stages with the car in June.
“I’m still going to do the odd round to support Darren [Spann, MN Circuit coordinator] and the championship. It’s been really good to me.
“I’m going to miss it but I have to try and aim bigger and higher for my own sake. No disrespect to any of the other guys but we’ve been beating some of the other two-wheel-drive guys by over two minutes a rally. It’s only the four-wheel-drive stuff that’s giving me a run now.
“I want to go somewhere that will really challenge me.”
Loeb competed in two rallies in his 306 in 2017 after the completion of the car, before committing to a WRC return with Citroen and then Hyundai. He did contest one event in Switzerland in 2018, but is yet to confirm any more 306 outings as of yet.