As some of our fans may know, Tramalón has returned with car design voting every week. Last Friday we published four liveries on the Peugeot 208 T16 R5. Specifically, piloted by four Spanish teams.
The decoration of Pedro and Marcos Burgo was the winner with more than forty votes, so we will start with them. The Galicians enjoyed, for a short time, this car (ACSM team). 2016 was a year in which the R5s began to arrive in Spain. Specifically, the Ford Fiesta R5, Citroën DS3 and the aforementioned model.
Before its sale to France, they used it in two events of the Spanish Championship. The first one was Ferrol, where they finished fifth behind another R5, the DS3 from the Vallejo brothers. A few weeks later, the Galicians visited Santander with the same unit. They were forced to leave by accident.
Cristian García and Rebeca Liso were proclaimed Champions of Spain on asphalt that year, showing much superiority with the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X from RMC. Chassis number 25 of the 208 T16 R5 returned to France. It remained active until 2017, the year in which it suffered a severe accident.
Nil Solans, also with ACSM
The fast Catalan driver, also in the hands of the ACSM team (and with the same unit), disputed four races of the 2015 World Rally Championship immersed in the WRC2 category. Despite the fact that he left images and some relevant chrono, he didn`t have the necessary luck against the rest of the rivals in the category.
A year later, along with Miki Ibáñez, Nil Solans took part in two CERA rallys. Specifically, La Nucía and Madrid, leaving great sensations. In La Nucía he was forced to abandon due to breakdown in the third stage when he was riding first, ahead of Cristian García, Sergio Vallejo and Alberto Monarri.
Madrid arrived and, again leading ahead of the powerful Mitsubishi-Repsol team, a puncture separated them from the fight for victory. Third parties finished. Rumors at the time pointed to a full Catalan program with that car at CERA 2017. In the end it was not like that, and Solans completed one of his best years, achieving the JWRC title.
Adventure with “Rocket” Suárez and Pepe López
As brand-new champions of the Volant Peugeot (with the 208 R2) in 2015 and 2016, Jose Antonio Suárez and Pepe López obtained two programs with the Peugeot 208 T16 R5 in the European Championship. A car that, compared to its main rivals, the Ford Fiesta and the Skoda Fabia, was somewhat inferior.
Suárez and Cándido Carrera also drove it in the 2016 WRC2. They didn’t get great results, but they left interesting images to remember. As an example, the sixth best place (among all the WRCs) in one of the stages of the Rally Monte-Carlo.
In 2017, Suárez and López, both as officials, saw each other in the European Championship. Both got a fourth as the best result, but fortune wasn`t on their side. The Asturian, for his part, was proclaimed Champion of Spain in Gravel Rallies that same year.
Adrián García, in the Canary Islands
Adrián García took over the 34th Peugeot unit, with which he played the Canarian Championship in 2018 and 2019. He was another of the protagonists of our vote. He garnered several podiums at regionals, and also showed speed in his appearances at CERA.
García garnered, for two consecutive seasons, two absolute fifth places in the Rally Villa de Adeje, scoring for Spanish Nacional. He beat copper in numerous specials with rivals such as Ares, Suárez, Pernía or Cruz, among others.
Others, champions …
Despite not being among the candidates for voting, other drivers did take this car to the top. Xevi Pons was one of them, winning the Spanish Gravel Championship in 2018. Four of his six victories were on board this car.
Many Galician drivers, such as Domingo Molinos or Francisco Dorado, also enjoyed this car in various rallys. Jesús Adorna, Andalusian driver, has bought the car that Adrián García had, so we will continue to enjoy this car in spanish rallys.
