Cyril Despres and David Castera (Peugeot DKR #100) won the Silk Way Rally after the organisers cancelled Saturday’s final special stage due to bad weather. The crews will still travel by road to the finish podium in Xi’an on Sunday. There the podium ceremony and celebration will take place, but the race is over.
Despres opened earlier a cushion of over an hour over his nearest rival. He was second fastest on Friday’s 13th stage, which turned out to be the last competitive test. That is a second consecutive win for him after his success in the Silk Way Rally in 2016.
“Huge congratulations to Cyril and David: they have driven well throughout and avoided major problems, which was not easy”, Peugeot Sport Director and Team Manager Bruno Famin commented.
“It’s a good performance on a very tough rally! With just one remaining car in the run for victory from the race halfway point, it’s even more satisfying. This is the result of perfect teamwork. We managed the pressure brilliantly. The Peugeot DKR once again proved to be performing and reliable cars. I am proud of the team spirit we have within Team Peugeot Total and I would like to thank all the people who have worked hard to achieve another victory.”
Cyril Despres and David Castera (Peugeot DKR #100) won the Silk Way Rally after the organisers cancelled Saturday’s final special stage due to bad weather
Despres said he was proud of the work he and co-driver Castera did.
“We started with the rain, and we finish with the rain, celebrating the victory in a very strange way tonight at the bivouac”, he continued.
“I am so happy we made it again! I am proud of the work accomplished together with David Castera. I think we made it to victory pretty quickly after both of us came from the two-wheel category. Thank you to Peugeot for giving me this great opportunity for my career. Thank you to the Peugeot Sport engineers and mechanics also, for building such a great car. I can’t wait to tackle Dakar 2018 with the Peugeot DKR Maxi. This is clearly my next goal now.”
“We did a clean rally with no major issues, either from a technical or a sporting point of view. I am glad we made it again! Hard work is paying off! We will take some good rest and then go back to testing. There is something even bigger waiting for us now, in the name of Peugeot DKR Maxi”, David Castera added.
“So, @cyrildespres, how happy are you to win 2 times in a row one of the most toughest rally in the world?” Congratulations #DreamTeam pic.twitter.com/fHie9JVkcl
— Peugeot Sport (@peugeotsport) July 21, 2017
