Photo: WTCR

DG Sport hoping a fair BoP will allow the 1.6 Peugeot 308TCR to compete

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DG Sport Compétition are ready to go for the 2018 World Touring Car Cup after a successful test last week in Barcelona, running the brand-new Peugeot 308TCRs for the first time with Aurélien Comte and Mat’o Homola driving the team’s red, white and grey cars.

The team have made the switch from the Opel Astra TCR, still a part of the PSA Peugeot Citroen group, to the Peugeot 308TCR this year. The Belgian team have experience with the French marque, having run the 308 Racing Cup car in last year’s TCR Benelux Touring Car Championship, and remained in contention for the title until the season’s end with Aurélien Comte and Kevin Abbring driving.

The team have now promoted Comte to their new World Touring Car team, as well as re-signing 23-year-old Slovakian Mat’o Homola for 2018.

“We’re impatiently awaiting the actual start of the season”, said DG Sport Compétition team principal Christian Jupsin. “The recent tests held in Barcelona have whet our appetite but nothing can take the place of a race and we can’t wait to get to the cut of the chase.”

“The first runs went smoothly, with the Peugeot 308TCR machines experiencing no technical issues,” he added. “Our thanks and hats off to Peugeot Sport who’ve done brilliant development work. It is now up to us to make them win, and we are pretty confident because we have at our disposal a promising package with a top performing car, two motivated drivers and a top level technical and sports team.”

The Peugeot 308TCR still has one handicap despite the upgrades to the car from the Racing Cup model, as it has the smallest capacity engine on the grid. Most TCR cars run with two-litre turbocharged engines, with the Alfa Romeo Giulietta the first exception with its 1.75 litre engine, but the Peugeot has the smallest of all, a 1.6 litre turbo.

“There is still one unknown: the Balance Of Performance (BoP) which must level out the performances of the models battling it out,” said Jupsin. “This parameter will have a specific importance in the case of the Peugeot 308TCR, because it is the only car on the grid powered by a 1.6 turbo engine. Let us hope that the BoP fully plays its part so that Mat’o and Aurélien will have the opportunity to make the DG Sport Compétition colours shine brightly in this WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup.”