
- Endurance
06 02 2025
28 12 2024
Peugeot Sport decided to call upon some of its leading drivers to represent the brand as it returned to racing in North America. On the back of his eye-catching performances in the ERC, Max McRae – son of Alister and nephew of the late Colin – was invited to contest the Rally of the Tall Pines in the Canadian Rally Championship and he literally blew everyone away.
After a long hiatus from competing in North America stretching back to the 2013 Pikes Peak, when Sébastien Loeb and the Peugeot 208 T16 Pikes Peak shattered the then record, Peugeot Sport joined forces with TEAM FJ and decided to enlist the most deserving drivers from its talent pool to showcase the qualities of the acclaimed PEUGEOT 208 Rally4. A PEUGEOT 208 Rally4 featuring vintage decals in a nod to its successful appearance last time out on the roads of Colorado. After the PEUGEOT made a fine début at the Rallye de Charlevoix, driving duties were handed over to young Scot Max McRae for the Rally of the Tall Pines, a Canadian Rally Championship event.
“I’m really grateful to Stellantis Motorsport for giving me this opportunity and I’m super excited,” commented a clearly delighted Max ahead of the rally. He certainly rewarded the team’s faith once the event got underway. Not only did he top the two-wheel class after securing a clean sweep of the stage wins, but he also managed the impressive feat of finishing second overall, winning an incredible four stages outright. “It was great,” was his analysis at the finish! “We were really able to show what this car is capable of doing. The key for us was having a good recce and making accurate notes so that we could set a strong pace on these roads, with the high-speed turns and big jumps. Honestly, the roads were superb. There were a lot of firsts for me here this weekend. I don’t have much experience of driving at night, so winning a night stage and beating a Rally2 category car by more than twenty seconds was something really special. It was an excellent rally, completed without any problems whatsoever. Getting the class win and finishing runner-up in the overall standings is the perfect way to thank TEAM FJ, who were incredible, Stellantis Motorsport and all our partners.” Comments that were echoed by Didier Clément, Customer Racing Sports Director, Stellantis Motorsport: “We know that the PEUGEOT 208 Rally4 is an excellent car, but this weekend has also shown just how good Max is as a driver. We can’t wait to compete more in North America.”
The experience, which was an unmitigated success, was also acclaimed by the entire North American rally community. It is therefore highly likely that 2025 will see a number of outings at rallies in Canada and the USA, as well as test sessions in the coming weeks in order to provide local drivers with the opportunity to try out the PEUGEOT 208 Rally4 and prepare for the 2025 season, which is due to kick off in January with the snow rallies.
What did you learn from this rally?
It was a very rewarding experience for me because my experience on fast stages like the ones we faced here, with blind crests and jumps, is still limited. So it was good to tackle them in racing conditions and work on notes in these sorts of conditions.
What did you think about the handling of the PEUGEOT 208 Rally4 on these stages?
As has been the case all year for me, the PEUGEOT 208 Rally4 handled absolutely perfectly throughout the weekend. We had no trouble finding the right set-up so I could feel confident to push. To be honest, given the fact we managed several stages wins up against four-wheel drive cars, I think you could tell!
What are your plans for 2025?
We’re working on them at the moment. We’d like to do a few races in Europe in a Rally2 car. Whatever happens, I would like to thank Stellantis Motorsport and Peugeot Sport once again for having given me this opportunity and I hope we’ll have the chance to work together again in the near future.
Other news
See all06 02 2025
16 01 2025
13 01 2025
06 01 2025
05 12 2024
28 11 2024
26 11 2024
03 11 2024
03 11 2024
30 10 2024
18 10 2024
14 10 2024
15 09 2024
02 09 2024
29 08 2024
14 07 2024
16 06 2024
12 06 2024
09 06 2024
07 06 2024
29 05 2024
16 05 2024
11 05 2024
21 04 2024
20 04 2024
16 04 2024
23 03 2024
03 03 2024
01 03 2024
20 02 2024
14 02 2024
30 01 2024
24 01 2024
19 01 2024
16 01 2024
05 01 2024
03 01 2024
21 12 2023
18 12 2023
04 12 2023
27 11 2023
21 11 2023
06 11 2023
04 11 2023
03 11 2023
30 10 2023
09 10 2023
21 09 2023
10 09 2023
09 09 2023
28 08 2023
22 08 2023
19 07 2023
14 07 2023
09 07 2023
08 07 2023
03 07 2023
30 06 2023
11 06 2023
11 06 2023
10 06 2023
09 06 2023
07 06 2023
04 06 2023
03 06 2023
02 06 2023
22 05 2023
29 04 2023
28 04 2023
25 04 2023
20 04 2023
16 04 2023
15 04 2023
14 04 2023
11 04 2023
18 03 2023
17 03 2023
08 03 2023
20 01 2023
05 01 2023
16 12 2022
08 12 2022
25 11 2022
13 11 2022
11 11 2022
07 11 2022
04 11 2022
17 10 2022
10 10 2022
04 10 2022
23 09 2022
19 09 2022
15 09 2022
11 09 2022
10 09 2022
26 08 2022
16 08 2022
09 08 2022
01 08 2022
25 07 2022
21 07 2022
10 07 2022
09 07 2022
04 07 2022
20 06 2022
08 06 2022
23 05 2022
16 05 2022
05 05 2022
06 04 2022
25 02 2022
21 02 2022
20 01 2022
18 01 2022
12 01 2022
11 01 2022
30 11 2021
29 09 2021
06 07 2021
08 02 2021