BFGoodrich is delighted with the success of the 2008 BFGoodrich Drivers Team operation in Belgium. By the closing date for applications on April 30, the Royal Automobile Club Belgium (RACB) had received 54 dossiers from crews wishing to fly the BFGoodrich Drivers Team's colours on the forthcoming Belgium Ypres Westhoek Rally (June 26-28), third round of the IRC.
In view of the high number of applications received, BFGoodrich has decided to extend the final shortlist from three to five drivers.
The BFGoodrich Drivers Team is an operation which sets out to give talented drivers a chance to contest their home round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. All competition licence holders are eligible to apply, irrespective of age or experience.
The selected driver will be entered in a Kronos-run Peugeot 207 Super 2000 alongside Kronos Racing's Freddy Loix and Nicolas Vouilloz in the team's other Peugeot 207 Super 2000s, and with all the technical support and professionalism necessary for this type of car.
In the case of Belgium, an initial shortlist of five drivers will be drawn up by BFGoodrich and Kronos Racing. Then, on May 28, a panel of Belgian journalists will take part in a secret vote to select the crew that will be given the opportunity to contest Belgium's round of the IRC.
On June 18, a test session will be organised in Belgium to enable the crew to familiarise itself with the Peugeot 207 Super 2000 and also maximise its chances of figuring well in the final classification of the 2008 Belgium Ypres Westhoek Rally.
"The first phase of the BFGoodrich Drivers Team in Portugal last weekend was a big success and, given the huge interest shown in it by drivers in Belgium, we are obviously very pleased, too, with the way the second step of this innovative scheme is going," says BFGoodrich Competition Director Frédéric Henry-Biabaud.
"For BFGoodrich, it is a chance to underpin our attachment to rallying through the support the operation gives to drivers of the different countries involved. It is a major commitment on behalf of the brand which has shown that the quality of its tyres is a real 'plus' both in rallying and rally-raids," he adds.
