Crash course

A crash and a non-finish in the final may not seem like a great day out, but RSB Racing left last Sunday’s Dutch championship event at Valkenswaard’s Eurocircuit happy with progress and quietly confident that both its Peugeot 207 Supercar and driver Ronny Scheveneels were in the groove and ready for the second round of the European Rallycross Championship in Portugal later this month.

The season opening RallycrossRX event at Lydden was a difficult event for the new RSB squad which ended its run after clutch problems. “After Lydden, we were disappointed of course,” said team boss Sven Boeckx. “Last year we just missed the A final in Holland but in Lydden nothing seemed to work according to plan. On Sunday the car had a lack of power and during the third heat we had found the power but the 207 suffered some other damage. Pailler-Competition [which supplies the 207] made some changes after the British race and we decided this was a good event to test them and try some different settings. Today is really an important test for next race at Portugal and a result doesn’t matter.”

Boeckx pronounced himself happy with Scheveneels performance in Holland. “The day was about making everything work, getting the team settled and giving Ronny some laps in the car. He is much more comfortable now and that’s important,” said Boeckx.

Scheveneels suffered a crash in the third heat, a puncture putting the Peugeot into the Eurocircuit’s sand trap where it fell on to its side. “The crash was a shame, but there was no real damage so it doesn’t matter. It’s just one of those things that can happen when the car get a puncture.” Boeckx said.

For the Portuguese RallycrossRX event, RSB Racing is working even more closely with Pailler-Competition; owner of the French team Jean-Luc Pailler using the event at Montalegre to debut the first Peugeot 208 from his successful company. While Pailler has raced at Montalegre before but will have the challenge of pushing a new car to its limits, Scheveneels is now happy with his car, but has a new track to learn. “It’s very hard for me to say what I expect from Portugal – the circuit is new for me, but normally I can adapt quickly. Also I do a lot of physical exercise myself to be in good form. Otherwise it is hard to fight al those good youngsters!” said the Belgian. “What we like about the new event format is that each race is like a final. The level and the quality is huge which means the moment there is a problem on your car you aren’t able to follow your competitors. It also seems to be important to pick the right strategy; you have to take care of your car during the heats, but still be fast enough to get a good position in the finals. And than you can go real flat-out.”

RSB boss Boeckx is, of course, keen for his team to get some points on the board in Portugal, but also has an eye on the future and expanding his operation. “Running as a two-car team with Jean-Luc Pailler in Portugal is the first step for us and I’m planning to have two cars in the team at more events, hopefully even from Hungary in May,” he said.

The Eurocircuit event formed the first round of the Dutch championship and was won by Belgian Patyrick Van Mechelen (Fiesta) who led home Jos Kuypers (Focus III) and Koen Pauwels (Focus II). Jos Sterkends (Volvo C30) won in TouringCar and Peter van de Wege (Toyota Yaris) topped the Super1600 order.

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