SOUTHAMPTON Peugeot dealer Simon Moulton is off to sunny Spain this weekend, flying the flag for Britain in the second round of the Peugeot 207 Spider Cup.

Simon, 34, a director of the Southgate Group which has eight dealerships including the Peugeot and Mitsubishi dealership in Southampton where he is based, lives with his family at Herne.

Dealers across Europe were invited to enter cars in the single-make series which will serve as the support race for the five European rounds of the 2007 Le Mans Series, as well as for two other major meetings in France.

But Simon, a former Radical champion, was the only Briton to take up the challenge.

The cars are purpose-built racers with spaceframe chassis and the 175bhp turbocharged engine from the new Peugeot 207 GTi mid-mounted and driving the rear wheels through a six-speed sequential gearbox with steering wheel paddles.

The season's curtain-raiser at Monza, where Simon is pictured, saw French drivers monopolising the podiums, but this time Spaniards will be on home soil in Valencia.

Simon had a disappointing start to the season when his racer was delivered only a week before the first event and then suffered alternator problems in qualifying and then a variable valve timing glitch in the first race, cutting his straight line speed so that he finished 12th of the 18 drivers.

Then in the second race he started 18th on the grid and battled through to fifth before a brake problem saw him stranded in the gravel.

Now, after a practice weekend and with the promise of an extra practice session in Valencia, he is hoping for a better result.

He said: "Now that we've had a chance to sort the car a little we should be much more competitive."

He certainly has first class back-up with two technicians from Southgate's Andover branch - his younger brother Nick who used to work on F3 racers and Michael Down, three-times Peugeot Technician of the Year.

The 207 Spider Cup forms the backbone of Peugeot Sport's 2007 promotional calendar which is poised to make a big impact in parallel with the marque's official programme with the 908 HDi FAP. Indeed, this year's 207 Spider Cup winner will win the chance to test drive the 908 at the end of the seven-round series which features two non-LMS fixtures in France, at Pau (WTCC meeting) and Magny-Cours (FFSA Super Série meeting).

The inaugural round at Monza featured 18 drivers from six countries - France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Belgium and Britain.