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Procter and Duval return to the ERC in Belgium.

Among those in the paddock this weekend, Kevin Procter’s rebuilt Focus and the Pailler Competition Peugeot for François Duval, standout from the crowd.

Procter’s car has been subject to a ground-up rebuild by Tony Bardy Motorsport and is, as you would expect from the Yorkshire perfectionist, absolutely beautiful. The Focus has had its MSR transmission system replaced with a Sellholm setup, a change which has necessitated a new front subframe as well as new transmission tunnel. Added to the repair work that was necessary to the rear of the car following Procter’s crash in Hungary last year, the result is virtually a new car. The effort to get the Focus to Belgium has seen Bardy and his team work through the night several times this week.

Expected to drive a Focus here, Duval is instead behind the wheel of one of Pailler Competition’s three Peugeot 207s and team boss Jean-Luc Pailler is confident the Belgian rally star has a winning proposition beneath him. “All my cars are the same, he can win in this. He would have won in Kerlabo but he had a problem in the final with the power steering: you cannot drive these cars fast without power steering,” said Pailler who does not rule out further events for Duval, “I don’t know, perhaps he will drive again. We will how it goes here and what we can do after this.”

Feeling more confident since his team got to the bottom of engine management problems that had blighted its performance since last year, Pailler is looking forward to next weekend’s Valkenswaard event. “Holland is good for me, I won there with the BX, the Xantia and I think twice in the 206. yes, I like Valkenswaard very much,” he said.

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