The official livery for nine-time World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb’s Peugeot 208 T16 Pikes Peak runner has now been unveiled, just days after footage of his first test in the Peugeot appeared.
Anybody who’s read our exclusive interview with Sébastien Loeb will know that the nine-time World Rally Champion isn’t ready to reach for his pipe and slippers just yet. Despite retiring from full-time WRC duties, the Frenchman is competing in the FIA GT Series with his eponymous team, planning a World Touring Car Championship assault with Citroen next year, and taking a Martini liveried Porsche GT3 for a spin during the Barcelona Grand Prix support series. And then there’s that Pikes Peak business.
This June, Loeb will take on the harrowing 20km climb aboard this 208 T16 – the inaugural running of which you can find in the video at the bottom of the page – in an effort to emulate fellow WRC Champion Ari Vatenen as an event winner. Red Bull, always keen to show its support, has now unveiled the Peugeot’s official livery.
We’re almost – I’ll repeat ‘almost’ – disappointed, since the black-clad 208 T16 is one of the most demonic racing brutes we’ve seen so far in 2013. Still, with 875bhp on tap from a 3.2-litre twin turbocharged V6 and 0-100kph nailed in 1.8 seconds, the Champ will be hoping its his driving that grabs the headlines.
