BLCKBOX ~ BTCC 1996 Peugeot 406

Peugeot had already been in the BTCC for four years (since 1992 as a factory team), originally competing 405mi16’s for the former champion Robb Gravett. Despite the anticipation and promise for good results, the 405 never won a race. This gave Peugeot UK the opportunity to replace the car with an all updated and up-to-regulation racer using the new 406 for the chassis. The 406 debuted in the 1996 season with a double, full season entry consisting of 1992 champion Tim Harvey and Patrick Watts. Despite the strong line up, results were rather poor and the performance of the 406 was lacking, the cause of this was not necessarily the drivers however.

Peugeot also had the 406 competing in a number of other touring car disciplines both in factory and independent teams, this also included STW (Super Tourenwagen Cup) based in Germany. The 406 was quite successful collecting a number of race wins and even a title in 1997 with Laurent Aiello piloting the car with 6 wins out of 10. Peugeot was very successful in most European touring car series apart from the BTCC. There was one major issue with the British run car, and the problem wasn’t directly caused by the car itself. Peugeot UK failed to communicate and share technical resources and data with the rest of the Peugeot teams, this led to a lack of experience and data which ultimately left Peugeot with a huge disadvantage. Due to the lack of development with the 406, the car could not compete with the ever evolving competition consisting of the Prodrive run Ford Mondeo V6, Renault Lagunas (Developed by Williams F1) and the monstrous Audi A4 Quattros.

Overall, the Peugeot 406 suffered with this lack of information and sadly failed to see the success of the rest of the other 406 touring cars, and many believed that it was wasted potential for a championship winning car.

Peugeot would later return to the BTCC in 2001 with the 406 updated to the new regulations. They would compete against Vauxhall who were at the time dominating the BTCC. However, the new 406’s proved to be just as under developed and despite having such amazing ability from Steve Soper, the Peugeot’s would again suffer.