Soper joins Eaves and Neal in Peugeot attack.

Peugeot Motor Company today announced that BTCC veteran Steve Soper would spearhead its assault on next year's new-look British Touring Car Championship.

The company will field three cars in the 2001 series, and motorsport director Mick Linford is confident that the signings of Dan Eaves and Matt Neal to partner Soper will take the Coventry-based team to its first BTCC race win, and to the position of fighting for the championship title.

Soper brings with him a wealth of experience, having notched up an incredible 154 race victories throughout all levels of saloon and sportscar racing in his career. He is expected to have an influential role in both the development testing and racing of the 406 Coupe and is looking forward to returning to the action-packed bumper-to-bumper racing in which he excels.

A former BMW works driver in both touring cars and the American Le Mans Series, Soper came close to landing the BTCC title with the Schnitzer team in 1993, and drove for Peugeot team boss Vic Lee in his privateer BMW assault prior to that.

Eaves, the youngest of the three drivers in the new line-up, is already highly rated having been voted the number one National Saloon Championship driver by both Autosport and Motoring News this season. The former Renault Spider champion has driven for Peugeot Sport through the last two years of National Saloon Championship competition, securing six pole positions, five fastest laps and three race wins this year.

Neal made history in the 1999 running of the BTCC by becoming the only Independent Class driver to ever win a race outright. He has since repeated that performance and his determination on the track will certainly prove to be a major asset to the team. He has campaigned an ageing Nissan Primera in the series for several years, landing successive Independents' Class crowns as well as upsetting the 'big boys' on more than one occasion.

"I am extremely pleased to have Dan, Matt and Steve in the team," Linford said of his new line-up, "They are the perfect mix of age and experience, combined with a determination to win for Peugeot. As for the car, to me it looks like a winner just parked up, and you know what they say, if it looks right..."

The radical 406 Coupe car will be officially launched on Friday 12 January 2001 at the Autosport International Show.

The signing of Soper rubbishes reports in the British press recently that former grand prix stars Nigel Mansell or Damon Hill may form part of the Peugeot line-up. Several titles bit on the rumour that either of the ex-world champions may be included, despite neither having had exactly stellar touring car careers.