By Paul Evans
Brake problems on day one of the recent Rallye d’Antibes robbed Meirion Evans of a points-scoring Peugeot 208 Rally Cup result – although he did get to show his true pace on day two, which included setting the fourth fastest time over one of the world’s most famous rally stages, the Col de Turini.
The 22-year old Lampeter driver headed to the Côte d’Azur for round two of the French series and the first round of the season on asphalt. Together with St Asaph-based co-driver Jonathan Jackson, Evans was looking forward to recording a good performance in his Chazel Technologie Course team prepared 208 R2 against rivals from around the world – and on stages that he admitted were totally different to anything that he’d seen before.
However, the event would be cut short when the brakes faded at the end of SS2 and with no additional brake fluid on board Evans was out for the day.
Day two would begin dry as the Melvyn Evans Motorsport/The Scan Station backed driver made his way to tackle three classic tests – including stages over the Col de Turini and La Cabanette, used on the Rally Monte Carlo in January. It was a good morning for Evans, with seventh fastest over the Turini – his first top 10 stage time ever in the ultra-competitive 208 Cup.
Heading into service in Nice, the threat of rain on the top of the mountainous stages became apparent with a storm passing through the region, leaving the stages higher up damp. Leaving service confident with his tyre choice, Evans set fourth fastest time on his second pass over the Turini, just nine seconds shy of the fastest time.
“Obviously the first day was a huge disappointment,” said Evans. “We had a strong run through stage one but we lost the brakes near the end of stage two but managed to nurse the car through, although we did overshot one of the last hairpins. So all things considered the time wasn’t too bad. We had planned to fix the issues at the end of the stage and get through stage three and then back to service, but with no fluid in the car we were helpless and had to retire.
“Alternatively, day two was much more positive. It’s a really specialist event and with thirty-five R2 cars starting it was pleasing to always be around the top ten. To set two really strong times over the Turini gives us the belief that we can fight for a good result on the next round, as it was the only stage where we could push fully and not worry about overcooking the tyres and brakes.
“We cut our tyres for the last loop as we were told the stages would be quite wet in places, but two out of the three stages were fully dry and the other stage was probably sixty-five per cent dry. While the driving felt better on the first stage of the loop the time didn’t show as the tyres were too soft and we were preserving them for the following stages. Just after the halfway point of the last stage the tyres went off, resulting in an overshoot, and with the car not doing what I wanted it to, it was difficult to manage the brakes like we did on the first pass. But we must appreciate what we’ve learnt from this rally, not only about the rally itself but having to alter your driving style to adapt to certain stages. It’s invaluable experience and something we will build on in the future.
“We’ve shown that we have good speed when we can push and with the next round being quite new to most drivers in the Cup, unlike the first two rounds, we’re hoping a change of fortune will see things click into place in Vosgien. It would be nice to come away from there with a solid result.”