It is at the first round of the WorldRX series in Portugal that French DA Racing is starting its 2015 international programme with Jean-Baptiste Dubourg at the wheel of his Citroën C4 SuperCar and Andréa Dubourg in his Super1600 Renault Clio.
A few weeks after winning the Super Finale of the Trophée Andros at Saint-Dié-des-Vosges in France Jean-Baptiste Dubourg is changing to a totally new environment by running this coming weekend the first round of the WorldRX series at the Circuit de Montalegre in Portugal. This first international meeting of the season is a wonderful opportunity for the driver of DA Racing to prepare himself in the best conditions for the launch of the EuroRX championship in three weeks at Mettet in Belgium. It is without pressure that ‘JB’ will be present at the start, alongside drivers such as Petter Solberg, Topi Heikkinen, Timmy Hansen or Davy Jeanney.
Jean-Baptiste Dubourg: “It is very important for the team to be able to be at the start of the World Rallycross Championship kick-off and I would like to thank all the technical staff for their work these last few days. Nobody has counted their hours of work and we can only be proud of the result. This race will allow the whole team to adjust before the first round of EuroRX in Belgium. I know the circuit of Montalegre through TV images and the internet, thanks to cameras embarked in cars. It is a very interesting circuit with a very technical gravel section and parts of extremely fast asphalt. In general it is a track which reminds me of what I knew from Sprint Car Racing. As a result, we are not setting ourselves a limit; above all the priority for us is to be reliable and efficient.”
Andréa Dubourg is with his brother, but competing in the Super1600 category. © DAR/Bouissonade/ERC24
Andréa Dubourg is also preparing himself to experience a new adventure with his launch of the EuroRX Super1600 Championship. With his five victories in France and a European podium at Lohéac, the driver of DA Racing is now impatient to fight against the best European drivers. This new challenge is a true source of ambition for Andréa. The pilot of DA Racing does not hide his aims for this international season, but he knows that he will have to adapt rapidly to those circuits that he will discover as well as to his new competitors. The first round at Montalegre will allow him to lay his marks in a championship that is always strongly contested.
Andréa Dubourg: “I already had the opportunity to participate in international competitions at Essay, Kerlabo, Dreux and of course Lohéac, but in Portugal there will be my first race outside of our frontiers, what is more in the context of EuroRX. In France we know the circuits very well, whereas for Montalegre I have only seen videos and the Off Road configuration of the venue is pleasing me. Our team has achieved an unbelievable amount of work to develop our Renault Clio Mk2 Super1600. Needless to say, I do not hide my ambitions for this first European season, but the competitors are really tough at this level. We all know that we will have to be very concentrated, right from the first test, in order to go as far as possible. We have been working on this project for several months and I am now impatient to start the race in Portugal this Saturday morning.”
Top photo: Jean-Baptiste Dubourg looks forward to his first full year in the EuroRX series. © DAR/Adecom/ERC24