Portuguese champion going internationalOver the past 12 years, Peugeot Total is the Portuguese team that has awarded the most recognition to its drivers who have enjoyed success in Portugal, by allowing them to participate in foreign rallies on the European circuit and
in the World Rally Championship. Now Bruno Magalhăes and his navigator Paulo Grave have been given the chance to make their international debut in the Sanremo Rally this coming weekend at the wheel of a Peugeot 207 S2000.
The Portuguese Peugeot team views this rally as a learning curve. Bruno Magalhăes knows that the quality and quantity of his opponents will make for a difficult race. The Sanremo Rally has accepted 131 entries, including 18 Super 2000 class cars, 12 of which are Peugeot.
Completely in the dark about the state of the courses he will be racing on, Bruno Magalhăes hopes that his starting number 28 will not hinder him too much, given that there could be considerable differences in the state of the tracks between the first drivers and his departure (some 50 minutes after the first driver).
The significant number of Italian drivers with their intimate knowledge of the course will make it difficult for the Portuguese driver and so, to some extent, this puts the race into a different perspective for him, relieving some of the pressure of his first international race.
After having proven beyond a doubt that they deserve this international start, following a 2nd place in the competitive Madeira Wine Rally and last weekend's victory at the Central Portugal Rally, and now only three points shy of the national title, the team of Bruno Magalhăes/ Paulo Grave is prepared for its international debut.
“We feel we're on the right track and we want our performance to be worthy of all the effort put in by the entire team, which hasn't rested since the Central Portugal Rally in order to prepare the Peugeot 207 S2000 for such a difficult challenge as the Sanremo Rally," said Magalhăes.
"We'll approach our participation in the Italian round of the FIA Intercontinental Rally Challenge without too much pressure. With only three runs for each special stage, which is what the regulations allow, we will be making performance adjustments during the actual race. Above all, Paulo Grave and I would like to finish the first stage much higher in the standings than the number we've been given and represent Peugeot Portugal to the best of our abilities.”
Having joined the team in 2004, Bruno made it into the official team by winning the 2nd edition of the Peugeot 206 Trophy. As an official driver, he drove the Peugeot S1600 for two seasons and this year is behind the wheel of the Peugeot 207 S2000, a car that the Lisbon-born driver has driven extremely successfully. In fact, he was the first driver in the world to win a rally with a Peugeot 207 S2000.
The team created by Peugeot Portugal with Portuguese technicians has always tried to provide its pilots with the best conditions to shine internationally, as was the case in 2003 when it finished second in the European championship with the same number of points as the champions.
This will not be the first time that the team managed by Carlos Barros will participate in an Italian race. In fact, it is the only foreign team that has managed to win the famous Mille-Miglia Rally, which until then had never been won by a non-Italian driver.
Peugeot Total has also participated in some of the most renowned World Championship Rallies, such as Monte Carlo and boasts victories in the European Championship, namely at the Canary Islands, Madeira, Poland and Mille Miglia rallies. Their international resume also includes various second place finishes (Czech Republic, Antibes, Greece), in addition to other podium finishes.
This participation in the Sanremo Rally marks the team's first step toward its goal of participating in some few 2008 Intercontinental Rally Challenge races, as a complement to its participation in the National Rally Championship.
Source Peugeot Sport
