MOTORING NEWS - Peugeot has secured victory in the Silk Way Rally with Cyril Despres and David Castera in the Peugeot DKR #100, after last Saturday's final special stage was cancelled due to bad weather. The crews celebrated their win on the finish podium in Xi'an, China, but the race was over a day early.
Despres had opened up a cushion of over an hour in the Peugeot DKR #100 over his nearest rival after setting the second best time on Friday's 13th stage, which turned out to be the last competitive test.
After taking 10 stage wins out of a possible 13 for Peugeot, Stephane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret were fifth overall, recovering after they fell down the order because of a crash on the fourth stage.
Bruno Famin, Peugeot sport director and team Peugeot Total manager, said, "Huge congratulations to Cyril and David. They have driven well throughout and avoided major problems, which was not easy. It was a good performance on a very tough rally. With just one remaining car in the run for victory from the race's halfway point, it's even more satisfying. This is the result of perfect teamwork.
The Peugeot DKR once again proved to be performing and reliable. I am proud of the team spirit we have within Team Peugeot Total and I would like to thank all the people who have worked hard to achieve another victory.
Cyril Despres, team Peugeot Total driver and winner of the Silk Way Rally for the last two years, was happy about the victory. "We started with the rain and we finished with the rain, celebrating the victory in a very strange way tonight at the bivouac. I am so happy we made it again. I am proud of the accomplishment with David Castera. I think we made it to victory pretty quickly, after both of us came from the two-wheel category," he said.
"Thank you to Peugeot for giving me this great opportunity for my career. Thank you to the Peugeot Sport engineers and mechanics also, for building such a great car. I can't wait to tackle Dakar 2018 with the Peugeot DKR Maxi. This is clearly my next goal now."
Cyril Despres celebrates his second win in a row at the Silk Way Rally.
David Castera, his co-driver in both victories, said, "We finished a clean rally with no major issues, either from a technical or a sport point of view. I am glad we made it again and hard work paid off! There is something even bigger waiting for us now - the Peugeot DKR Maxi."
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