The Peugeot 206 WRC is a World Rally Car based on the Peugeot 206. It was used by Peugeot Sport, Peugeot's factory team, in the World Rally Championship from 1999 to 2003. The car brought Peugeot the manufacturers' world title three consecutive years (2000 to 2002). Marcus Grönholm won the drivers' title in 2000 and 2002.

History

In order to homologate the 206 World Rally Car, Peugeot needed to sell road going versions of the 206 that were at least 4.0 metres long (the minimum length stipulated by the FIA for WRC cars). The WRC car was homologated with the 206 Grand Tourisme, similar to the standard 206 but with front and rear body extensions to bring the car from the standard road car's 3.83 meters to the rally car's 4 metre length. 4000 cars in total were produced, each with a unique number on a plaque on the door pillar both sides. 600 right-hand drive cars were produced for the UK. The mechanicals fitted to the Grand Tourisme were what was fitted to the upcoming 206 GTI, not yet released.

In 1999, Peugeot Sport unveiled the 206 WRC, and it competed for the first time in that year's World Rally Championship, with French tarmac veteran and long-time marque stalwart Gilles Panizzi narrowly failing, against a resurgent reigning champion in Mitsubishi's Tommi Mäkinen, to win the Rallye Sanremo. The car was soon a success, however, and won both the manufacturers' and drivers' championships in 2000, Peugeot's first such accolades since their withdrawal from the WRC after Group B was banned after the 1986 season, and achieved in the hands of Panizzi, Francois Delecour and Mäkinen's successor as drivers' world champion, Marcus Grönholm.

For 2001, Grönholm competed alongside two refugees of SEAT's exit from the championship at the end of 2000; compatriot Harri Rovanperä and the French 1994 world champion, Didier Auriol. Rovanperä and Auriol each contributed single wins, on Swedish Rally and Rally Catalunya respectively (the former to be a sole career win for the Finn, and the latter victory helped by assorted problems for the blisteringly quick debuting Citroën Xsara WRCs), before Auriol left the team at the end of the season. Grönholm, meanwhile, suffered sufficient reliability woes in the first half of the year such that he could manage no higher than fourth overall in the series, although Peugeot did fend off Ford, with a 1-2 result by the two Finns on the season-ending Rally of Great Britain to successfully defend the constructors' championship title.

In 2002, Grönholm – despite now being paired in the factory line-up with defending 2001 champion from Subaru, the Briton Richard Burns – led Peugeot to a repeat of the WRC title double aboard his 206 WRC. His dominance that year was compared to Michael Schumacher's dominance of Formula One. In summary, Peugeot won two drivers' championships, in 2000 and 2002, and three manufacturers' titles in a row between 2000 and 2002. However, by 2003 the 206 WRC was beginning to show its age and was less effective against the competition, notably the newer Xsara WRC and the Subaru Impreza WRC, so it was retired from competition at the end of the season, to be replaced with the 307 WRC, albeit, unlike its predecessor, based not on the production version's hatchback, but its coupé cabriolet body style.

The Peugeot 206 WRC was awarded the Autosport "Rally Car of the Year" in 2002, preceded by the Ford Focus RS WRC and followed by the Citroën Xsara WRC. Peugeot GB created a Peugeot 206 rally championship aimed at young drivers. The championship was created to help young drivers develop their careers. The cars were built by Vic Lee Racing and drivers such as Tom Boardman, Luke Pinder and Garry Jennings all drove in the championship.

WRC victories No. Event Season Driver Co-driver 1 Swedish Rally 2000 Marcus Grönholm Timo Rautiainen 2 Rally New Zealand 2000 Marcus Grönholm Timo Rautiainen 3 Rally Finland 2000 Marcus Grönholm Timo Rautiainen 4 Tour de Corse 2000 Gilles Panizzi Hervé Panizzi 5 Rallye Sanremo 2000 Gilles Panizzi Hervé Panizzi 6 Rally Australia 2000 Marcus Grönholm Timo Rautiainen 7 Swedish Rally 2001 Harri Rovanperä Risto Pietiläinen 8 Rally Catalunya 2001 Didier Auriol Dennis Giraudet 9 Rally Finland 2001 Marcus Grönholm Timo Rautiainen 10 Rallye Sanremo 2001 Gilles Panizzi Hervé Panizzi 11 Rally Australia 2001 Marcus Grönholm Timo Rautiainen 12 Rally of Great Britain 2001 Marcus Grönholm Timo Rautiainen 13 Swedish Rally 2002 Marcus Grönholm Timo Rautiainen 14 Tour de Corse 2002 Gilles Panizzi Hervé Panizzi 15 Rally Catalunya 2002 Gilles Panizzi Hervé Panizzi 16 Cyprus Rally 2002 Marcus Grönholm Timo Rautiainen 17 Rally Finland 2002 Marcus Grönholm Timo Rautiainen 18 Rallye Sanremo 2002 Gilles Panizzi Hervé Panizzi 19 Rally New Zealand 2002 Marcus Grönholm Timo Rautiainen 20 Rally Australia 2002 Marcus Grönholm Timo Rautiainen 21 Swedish Rally 2003 Marcus Grönholm Timo Rautiainen 22 Rally New Zealand 2003 Marcus Grönholm Timo Rautiainen 23 Rally Argentina 2003 Marcus Grönholm Timo Rautiainen 24 Rally Catalunya 2003 Gilles Panizzi Hervé Panizzi

WRC results Year Team Drivers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Points Pos1999Peugeot MON SWE KEN POR ESP FRA ARG GRE NZL FIN CHN ITA AUS GBR116 Marcus Grönholm Ret 4 8 5 Ret Gilles PanizziRet3327 François DelecourRetRet9RetRetRet2000Peugeot MON SWE KEN POR ESP ARG GRE NZL FIN CYP FRA ITA AUS GBR1111 Marcus Grönholm Ret 1 Ret 2 5 2 Ret 1 1 Ret 5 4 1 2 Gilles PanizziRetRet611Ret8 François DelecourRet757139Ret632236 Sebastian Lindholm52001Peugeot MON SWE POR ESP ARG CYP GRE KEN FIN NZL ITA FRA AUS GBR1061 Marcus Grönholm Ret Ret 3 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 1 5 7 Ret 1 1 Didier Auriol Ret Ret 8 1 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 6 3 3 3 7 Gilles PanizziRet2129 Harri Rovanperä1RetRetRet324342 HF Grifone SRL Gilles Panizzi12RetRet14Ret 0 - Harri Rovanperä117 F.P.F. Sport Renato Travaglia5 2 20Simon Jean-Joseph Simon Jean-Joseph9Ret810 0 -

External links

Rally car statistics – juwra.com (World Rally Archive) Peugeot 206 WRC at ewrc-results.com