Peugeot to support electrified racing

Peugeot boss Maxim Picat has announced he will back initiatives to create an all-electric supercar category in the World Rallycross Championship.

The group believes the electrified series has the potential to become a frontline motorsport category if managed innovatively.

The news follows Volkswagen’s earlier declaration that it planned to push rallycross organisers to introduce an electric car category.

Commenting on the move, Picat said: “Rallycross is a format with a lot of potential, it has the star quality with itsdrivers, in Sebastien Loeb now, [ex-WRC champion and double WRX champion] Petter Solberg, and [Gymkhana star] Ken Block and many more. Plus the format is made for television. We are very keen to see how it develops.

“We would definitely support the development of an electric car category. There is huge potential for bringing new energy vehicles to motorsport and this is one of the best ideas - so doing that in rallycross as soon as possible would be interesting. The race format is ideal for recharging the batteries and putting on short but spectacular shows, and the style of racing in rallycross is an ideal world to show the sporty potential of this technology.”

He added: “In recent years we have picked our motorsport carefully, and nobody else can say they won Le Mans and Dakar and broke the record at Pikes Peak. We are supremely proud of these achievements, and are delighted to move our fans with these successes without the expense of doing Formula 1. With this strategy we can look back to our past successes but also write the next chapters of our history, while showcasing tomorrow’s technology and hero drivers.

“Dakar doesn’t have big coverage in all countries, but it does in some of the most important ones for us: France, Spain, Italy, Brazil, Africa and China. The overall investment to return ratio is pretty good, so we want to keep going.”

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