Jesús Puras

Jesús Puras

Personal information
Nationality	Spanish
Born	(1963-03-16) March 16, 1963 Santander, Cantabria
World Rally Championship record
Active years	1991–2002
Teams	Mazda, Citroën
Rallies	37
Rally wins	1
Podiums	2
Stage wins	25
Total points	32
First rally	1991 Monte Carlo Rally
First win	2001 Tour de Corse
Last win	2001 Tour de Corse
Last rally	2002 Rallye Sanremo

Jesús Puras Vidal de la Peña (born March 16, 1963 in Santander, Cantabria), also known as 'Chus Puras', is a Spanish rally driver active in the World Rally Championship from 1991 to 2002. Puras was well known for his blistering performances on tarmac rallies.

Career

Puras driving a Citroën Xsara Kit Car at the 1998 Rallye Cantabria.

Puras debuted in rallying in 1982 and captured the Spanish Rally Championship title eight times; in 1990 and 1992 with a Lancia Delta Integrale 16V, in 1995 and 1997 with a Citroën ZX 16S, from 1998 to 2000 with a Citroën Xsara Kit Car and in 2002 with a Citroën Xsara WRC. Driving a Ford Escort RS Cosworth, he also won the 1994 FIA Group N Cup (now as World Rally Championship-3).^[1]

Along with teammate Philippe Bugalski, he was chosen by the Citroën Total World Rally Team to be part of their driver line-up for the first bit-part campaign with the Citroën Xsara Kit Car in 1999. He secured his only WRC win at the 2001 Tour de Corse with co-driver Marc Martí (who then went on to pilot former double world champion Carlos Sainz and in recent years, Dani Sordo) with the Citroën Xsara WRC.

However, with performances overshadowed by the upcoming Sébastien Loeb, he retired from the Citroën factory team and the WRC in 2002, ending with a sixth place in his last rally – the 2002 Rallye Sanremo.

WRC victories

#	Event	Season	Co-driver	Car
1	45ème Tour de Corse – Rallye de France	2001	Marc Martí	Citroën Xsara WRC

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jesús Puras.

• Puras at the World Rally Archive