Like many 20-year-old car nuts, Chris Ingram’s dream is to win the World Rally Championship; but unlike the vast majority of his peers, the Manchester, England-born driver has already shown sufficient promise to secure the backing of a major car maker.
After becoming the first rally driver to lift the MSA’s prestigious Young Driver of the Year award, Chris became the youngest competitor to win the sought-after ‘Colin McRae European Rally Championship (ERC) Flat Out trophy’ for his commitment behind the wheel. He then won the R2 Class for front-wheel drive cars on his WRC debut at the 2013 Wales Rally GB. These successes were sufficient to catch the eye of PEUGEOT Sport and Chris will now compete in the remaining rounds of the FIA ERC Junior Championship at the wheel of a 208 R2 backed by PEUGEOT Financial Services and PEUGEOT UK.
It’s been a rapid rise for Chris since he left his college courses to pursue his dream. The former film and TV student became the youngest driver to score points in the British Rally Championship, aged 17 in 2012. The following year he won the John Easson Award for young rally drivers. He is currently ranked third in the FIA ERC Junior Championship and is ranked as the number one under-21 rally driver in the world by Autosport magazine.
Chris is following in the tracks of his heroes – former World Rally Champions Colin McRae and Richard Burns – by pursuing his career in a PEUGEOT. And he has already impressed the team with his pace while testing the 208 R2.
Speaking about the fulfillment of his dream, Chris said: “I’m really grateful to PEUGEOT Sport for the chance to drive the 208 R2. This presents a great opportunity for me to show PEUGEOT what I’m capable of in the pursuit of my goals to become European Rally Champion. In my opinion the 208 is the most competitive front-wheel-drive ERC car and I look forward to putting it through its paces. I’m also humbled to be following in the footsteps of my heroes, so I’ll be keeping the finish line firmly in my sights!”
Chris will make his PEUGEOT International rally debut in the European Rally Championship round in Barum, Czech Republic (29th-31st August), in Switzerland at the International du Valais Rally (23rd–25th October) and at the famous championship finale – the Tour de Corse in France (6th–8th November).
