Alpine 110s and Peugeot 208 T16 to surprise!

We are missing the best features! When we look at the entry list for the 2024 season, we say to ourselves that this championship organized by the Motor Racing Club (MRC) will be like no other! Two new cars will be on the road from 20 and 21 April, for the MRC Cup (see outside the text), the first event of the season: The Alpine 110S and the Peugeot 208 T16 R5.

Directly, which will attract a lot of people is the Alpine 110S. Alpine is a French car manufacturer, owned by the Renault brand. Since the creation of the first car in 1955, Alpine has participated in many motor races such as the 24 hours of Le Mans (victory in 1978), in rallies around the world, in Formula 3 and 2 and more recently in Formula 1. .

After the end of production in 1995, production resumed in 2017 with the launch of the Alpine A110 production line. In Mauritius, Leal & Co Ltd has been the Alpine dealer in Mauritius since January 2024. Currently, Leal & Co Ltd has ordered and registered four A110S vehicles. Two of those have been sold to customers, the Alpine GT is currently being demoted at Leal & Co Ltd and the A110S aero package has been handed over to Thierry Duvivier’s TRT for preparation and operation.

Thierry Duvivier (centre) with Louis Philippe Guého (left) (head of sales operations – ALPINE) and Eric Leal (CEO of Leal & Co Ltd).

This is the one we will have the opportunity to see on special stages in Mauritius. “I must emphasize the involvement of Leal who has strengthened the field with a unique car. Without them playing the game of taking such a car and handing it over to me, we would not have been able to implement this project”features Thierry Duvivier. “TRT, we had faith in Leal to implement this project, which was implemented 100 percent locally. Preparation of the body, chassis etc. is done by the TRT team, made up of friends and rally enthusiasts. Most of them are my colleagues at Leal. For future development, we will call foreign expertise.suggests the former Peugeot 206 pilot.

Of course, during the off-season, just like in football, there was a transfer window. If Thierry Duvivier changed his 206 to Alpine, it is the crew of Julie Collard – Joséphine de Ravel who will now drive the 206 RC 2.0.

Malik Unia in his BMW

But the biggest change of the registration window is the rise of the outgoing champion of Mauritius, David Koenig. After traveling for several years in his Renault Clio RS 2.0, he and co-driver Julien Audibert moved to Japan with a Mitsubishi Evo 6 2.0T. Will he retain his championship title without his new ride? For this question alone, you’ll have to go to a special stage – Plaine-Champagne and La Nicolière to start – to see it change.

Is the Clio disappearing from the circuit? No, because it was the Adnan Joonas – Luvish Treebhowon crew who brought it back and are among those who entered the MRC Trophy.

Moreover, there was a car that caught the attention and whose engine range was pleasing to the ears, it was that of Rajesh Newaj. In fact, we will find the Peugeot 206 Super 1600 on our roads, but now it will be driven by Simon Need who, next to him, in the driving seat together, will have an old friend: Robert Chung.

Thierry Duvivier and his team giving the final service to the Alpine 110S that he will be driving during the next meeting.

Another old man from the Mauritius rally is also returning. Reunion Islander Malik Unia is also part of the entry list. Because it is not the driver who opens the door or the co-driver – as it was before – that he will participate in the MRC Trophy but as the driver of his BMW 318 Ti Compact and he will have Danyal Unia by his side. His arrival was made possible by a change in the law that only allows left-hand drive vehicles to participate in campaign rallies.

The Mauritius – Reunion Agreement therefore works very well. Because Shayan Ramdenee has just participated in his third rally on Sister Island, during the weekend of March 22-24, on behalf of the Rallye National Ville de Saint-Leu. It is he who will drive the new Peugeot 208 T16 R5. With the experience he gained on the special stages of the long Reunion, there is no doubt that this 208 will be at the forefront.

Also let’s not forget last season’s hosts. Xavier Lachkar pushed his Toyota Yaris GR to the end of the season in a race car and won Group A during the final meeting. Rayhan Alladeen had also changed his car during the season, Mitsubishi Evo 9 2.0T against the old Evo 6 and had it not been for a technical problem during the final stage of the Ronde Toyota, he would have led the Evo 9 to the first stage of the podium.

For this 2024 season, the field is getting tougher with dream cars. For the pleasure of the eyes and ears…