Peugeot and Kris Meeke head for Brazil

Peugeot UK and Kris Meeke will contest the next round of the IRC in Curitiba Brazil between 5-7th March.

The last rally in Monte Carlo clearly showed the Peugeot UK driver Kris Meeke will be a force to be reckoned with in this year's IRC challenge. Setting the fastest time on his first stage on snow and holding second place before a puncture dropped him down the leader board, are all good indications of the speed of the team and their Kronos prepared Peugeot 207 S2000.

The unfortunate crash on the final day of the Monte Carlo rally, however, left the car badly damaged and Kronos have not had enough time to repair the car before it had to be shipped to Brazil. Therefore, Kris will be driving the Kronos prepared rally winning car that was driven by Sebastian Ogier instead. A new car will be built for Kris for the Belgium rally.

"It is no problem for Kris to drive the Ogier car because all the Kronos prepared cars are the same specification, so it will be easy for him to change cars," said Kronos Racing Team Principal Marc van Dalen. "It may even provide him with some good luck because it is not only the car Ogier used to win Monte Carlo but it is also the same car Juho Hanninen used to win Rally Russia."

The Rally de Curitiba will be contested over 234.65 kilometres of gravel stages, including a 23 kilometre special stage, with the finishing ceremony taking place in the city's racing circuit the Autódromo Internacional de Curitiba. It will be a real motor-sport packed time for the residents of Curitiba as, on the following day after the rally finishes, the circuit hosts a round of the World Touring Car Championship, jointly organised by the IRC promoters Eurosport Events.

Kris has already started his preparation for Brazil with a three day test with Peugeot Sport in France providing valuable time in the car on gravel stages and working with Peugeot Sport engineers to understand further the Peugeot 207 S2000.