PEUGEOT Super 106 Cup regulars Paul Alexander and Mike Panes have put aside their championship hopes to compete against the Formula Rally S1600 cars in a newly acquired, factory prepared Ford Puma S1600 kit car.

Having competed in the 106 Cup for the last 18 months, the Kings Langley driver and his Swansea-based co-driver were already planning a Formula Rally campaign for 2002, not expecting such an opportunity to present itself so early on.

Alexander had mixed results in the highly competitive Peugeot one-make championship. When not suffering from technical problems or accident damage, he consistently finished in the top ten.

Having proved to himself that he could mix it with the Peugeot elite, Alexander turned to ex-Peugeot Works driver David Higgins for one-to-one tuition at the Higgins family rally school, in order to improve his technique and build his spped.

Alexander's abilities impressed Higgins so much, he offered him a position as instructor at their Forest Experience Rally School, enabling Alexander to get many more miles under his belt in what has been a lean year for all UK-based rallying competitors.

The Kings Langley driver will be debuting his Puma S1600 kit car on the R&M Williams Welsh Rally, using this event and the rest of the season to get to know his new hardware.