Citroën World Rally Team

Citroën

Full name	Citroen Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team
Base	Versailles, France
Team principal(s)	Yves Matton
Technical director	Xavier Mestelan-Pinon
Drivers	Kris Meeke Mads Østberg
Co-drivers	Paul Nagle Jonas Andersson
Chassis	Citroën DS3 WRC
Tyres	Michelin
World Rally Championship career
Debut	2000
Constructors' Championships	8 (2003-2005, 2008-2012)
Drivers' Championships	8 (2004-2005, 2007-2012)
Rally wins	84

The Citroën Total World Rally Team is the Citroën factory backed entry into the World Rally Championship, run by Citroën Racing.

The team

Management

• Yves Matton – team director
• Xavier Mestelan-Pinon – technical director

Partners

• Total
• Red Bull
• Michelin
• Eurodatacar

History

1990–1998 Seasons

The Citroen ZX Rally raid won the Rally raid Constructors' Championship in 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, and 1997 with Pierre Lartigue and Ari Vatanen.

Citroen also won the Dakar Rally in 1991, 1994, 1995, and 1996. In addition, Citroen won the Pharaons Rally in 1991, the Tunisia rally in 1992 and the Paris-Moscow-Beijing Rally in 1992

1998–2000 Seasons

Citroën Xsara Kit car at the 1998 Rallye Cantabria

In 1998, following its withdrawal from Rally raid competition, Citroën Sport began competing in rallying with the Xsara Kit Car. Equipped with a 2L engine developing 280 hp more than 8 000 rpm, this car started competing in the French Rally Championship in 1998. At the wheel, Philippe Bugalski won drivers titles in 1998 and 1999, and Sébastien Loeb won the driver title in 2001.

In addition to the French championship, Citroën also entered the Xsara Kit Car on asphalt rounds of the World Rally Championship, Bugalski finishing fifth on the cars WRC debut on Rally Catalunya in April 1998, while Jesús Puras retired with engine problems. On Tour de Corse, Fabien Doenlen finished seventh and Patrick Magaud finished tenth. Bugalski retired with broken suspension. On Rallye Sanremo, Magaud finished 11th, Puras retired with engine problems and Bugalski crashed out.

In 1999, Bugalski and Puras were entered in Xsara Kit Cars on the three asphalt rallies again, and Bugalski won in Catalunya and Corsica, Puras finishing runner-up in Corsica.

2001 Season

In 2001, the Citroën Xsara T4 WRC debuted on selected rounds of the WRC.^[1] Jesús Puras won in Corsica,^[1] while at Sanremo Sébastien Loeb finished second on his first WRC rally in a WRC car.

Loeb and the team also dominated in the first Junior World Rally Championship season with the Citroën Saxo VTS S1600.^[2]

2002 Season

Citroën Xsara WRC at the Finland in 2002

For the 2002 season, Citroën contested 8 of the 14 Championship rounds.^[1] Sébastien Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena provisionally won the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally but due to an illegal tyre change, received a time penalty demoting him to second. He later won his first rally at Rallye Deutschland.^[1] The team also got a third place finish on the Safari Rally with Thomas Radstrom.^[1]

2003 Season

For 2003, Citroën entered their first full year in the World Rally Championship. They signed former World Champions Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz from Ford. Bugalski was also entered in a fourth car on asphalt rallies. The team won the first event of the season, Rallye Monte Carlo, with a 1–2–3 finish,^[1] with Loeb winning ahead of McRae and Sainz.^[1] Loeb also won Rallye Deutschland and Rallye Sanremo. Sainz won the Rally of Turkey. In their first full year, the team took the Manufacturers' championship,^[1] while Loeb finished second to Petter Solberg in the Drivers' championship. Sainz finished third and McRae was seventh.

2004 Season

Citroën Xsara WRC at the 2004 Cyprus Rally

Citroën reduced their team for 2004, dropping McRae. Loeb won the Monte Carlo Rally, the Swedish Rally, the Cyprus Rally, the Rally of Turkey, Rallye Deutschland and Rally Australia.^[1] Sainz won at Rally Argentina. Loeb won his first Drivers' championship.^[1] The team took the Manufacturers' championship.^[1] Sainz won on Rally Argentina and finished fourth in the standings.

The team expanded their efforts in the JWRC with the Citroën C2 S1600.

2005 Season

For the 2005 season, the primary drivers were Loeb and François Duval.^[1] Due to a string of poor performances, Duval was replaced by Sainz for Turkey and Greece.^[1] Loeb won the Monte Carlo Rally, Rally New Zealand, Rally Italia Sardinia, Rally Cyprus, the Rally of Turkey, the Acropolis Rally, Rally Argentina, Rallye Deutschland, Rallye de France, and Rally Catalunya on his way to win the Drivers' Championship.^[1] Duval took his debut win at the Rally Australia.^[1] Citroën took the Manufacturers' championship.^[1]

2006 Season

Citroën Xsara WRC at the 2006 Rally Australia

For 2006, Citroën WRT took a one year sabbatical, while developing a new car. Loeb was joined by Xavier Pons and third-driver Dani Sordo at the semi-privateer team Kronos Citroën, which received significant funding from Citroën Sport running their Xsara WRC cars. Sordo was soon promoted to second driver over Pons. Meanwhile Loeb again won the Drivers' title, despite missing events in Turkey, Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain, after breaking his arm in a mountain biking accident. He was replaced by former world champion Colin McRae for Turkey, who was then replaced by Pons for Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain.^[1]

2007 Season

For the 2007 season, Citroën officially re-entered the World Rally Championship with the all new C4 WRC, driven by Loeb and Sordo.^[1] Loeb diced with Ford's Marcus Grönholm throughout the year, only securing his record-equalling fourth straight Drivers' title at the final event, the Rally GB.^[3] Loeb won in Monte Carlo, Mexico, Portugal, Argentina, Germany, Spain, France and Ireland.^[1] Sordo ended the season in 4th place. At the end of the season, Guy Fréquelin resigned as team principal, and was replaced by Olivier Quesnel.

2008 Season

Citroën C4 WRC at the 2008 Rally Catalunya

Loeb and Sordo continued as the team's drivers.^[1] At the 2008 Monte Carlo Rally, Loeb won, while ^[4] Sordo suffered engine trouble, and was forced to retire, rejoining under the Superally rules.^[4]

The season culminated in the team winning both the drivers' (Loeb) and manufacturers' titles ahead of, respectively, Mikko Hirvonen and Ford. In a typically dominant year after the retirement of Grönholm, Loeb's eleven wins for the season, including a last-day success at the season-ending Wales Rally GB over erstwhile leader, Jari-Matti Latvala's Ford Focus, broke his existing 2005 record (10) for the greatest number of wins for one driver in an individual season, as well as bringing his own career total of WRC rally victories to 47. A still winless Sordo, with 65 points, nevertheless accomplished third in the drivers' standings.

2009 Season

Loeb and Sordo were retained for the 2009 season. Loeb won the opening five events of the season, but suffered a mid-season drop in form and fell behind Mikko Hirvonen in the standings. However, he won the title by one point after winning the final two rounds of the season. Sordo finished third in the standings, scoring seven podium finishes, but still no wins.

2010 Season

Loeb and Sordo were retained again for the 2010 season. Loeb won in Mexico, Jordan, Turkey and Bulgaria. Citroën Junior Team driver and Citroën protégé Sébastien Ogier won in Portugal, increasing the pressure on the still-winless Dani Sordo. Loeb took again the driver's crown for the 7th time in a row, while Sordo managed 5th. Alongside Loeb, Sordo and Ogier's performances Citroen took yet another manufacturer title.

2011 Season

Loeb was joined by Ogier permanently for 2011, as he replaced Sordo. Ogier and Loeb took 5 wins each with the brand new Citroën DS3 WRC. Loeb finished again on top spot retaining his title for his 8th consecutive time while Ogier finished 3rd in the standings, Citroën also took the manufacturer crown.

2012 Season

After Ogier's departure to Volkswagen, Mikko Hirvonen, former Ford driver, was signed by Citroën for 2012 driving the second DS3 joining Loeb. Loeb took his first victory of the season on the 80th Monte Carlo Rally, and secured wins also in, Mexico, Argentina and Greece. Mikko Hirvonen also won the Rally de Portugal but he was disquallifed for breaking the rules and regulations with illegal clutch and turbo.

2013 Season

2014 Season

Norwegian driver Mads Østberg, Kris Meeke from Northern Ireland, and Khalid Al Qassimi from UAE, will be competing for Citroën racing in the upcoming season. They will be driving the DS3 WRC.^[5]

WRC results

Year	Car	No	Driver	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	WDC	Points	WMC	Points
2001	Citroën Xsara WRC	14	Philippe Bugalski	MON	SWE	POR	ESP 8	ARG	CYP	GRC 6	KEN	FIN	NZL	ITA Ret	FRA Ret	AUS	GBR			22nd	1	-	-
		15	Jesús Puras	MON	SWE	POR	ESP Ret	ARG	CYP					ITA Ret	FRA 1	AUS	GBR			11th	10
			Thomas Rådström							GRC Ret	KEN	FIN	NZL							15th*	6*
		20	Sébastien Loeb	MON	SWE	POR	ESP	ARG	CYP	GRC	KEN	FIN	NZL	ITA 2	FRA	AUS	GBR			14th	6
2002	Citroën Xsara WRC	20	Thomas Rådström	MON Ret	SWE 37	FRA	ESP Ret	CYP	ARG	GRE 8	KEN 3	FIN Ret			NZL	AUS	GBR Ret			12th	4	-	-
			Jesús Puras										GER Ret	ITA 6						19th	1
		21	Sébastien Loeb	MON 2	SWE 17	FRA	ESP Ret	CYP	ARG	GRE 7	KEN 5	FIN 10	GER 1	ITA	NZL	AUS 7	GBR Ret			10th	18
		22	Philippe Bugalski	MON Ret	SWE	FRA 4	ESP 3	CYP	ARG	GRE	KEN	FIN	GER Ret	ITA Ret	NZL	AUS	GBR			11th	7
		25	Jesús Puras	MON	SWE	FRA	ESP 12	CYP	ARG	GRE	KEN	FIN			NZL	AUS	GBR			19th	1
2003	Citroën Xsara WRC	17	Colin McRae	MON 2	SWE 5	TUR 4	NZL Ret	ARG Ret	GRC 8	CYP 4	GER 4	FIN Ret	AUS 4	ITA 6	FRA 5	ESP 9	GBR 4			7th	45	1st	160
		18	Sébastien Loeb	MON 1	SWE 7	TUR Ret	NZL 4	ARG Ret	GRE Ret	CYP 3	GER 1	FIN 5	AUS 2	ITA 1	FRA 13	ESP 2	GBR 2			2nd	71
		19	Carlos Sainz	MON 3	SWE 9	TUR 1	NZL 12	ARG 2	GRC 2	CYP 5	GER 6	FIN 4	AUS 5	ITA 4	FRA 2	ESP 7	GBR Ret			3rd	63
		20	Philippe Bugalski	MON	SWE	TUR	NZL	ARG	GRC	CYP	GER Ret	FIN	AUS	ITA 8	FRA 9	ESP 10	GBR			23rd	1
2004	Citroën Xsara WRC	3	Sébastien Loeb	MON 1	SWE 1	MEX Ret	NZL 4	CYP 1	GRE 2	TUR 1	ARG 2	FIN 4	GER 1	JPN 2	GBR 2	ITA 2	FRA 2	ESP Ret	AUS 1	1st	118	1st	194
		4	Carlos Sainz	MON Ret	SWE 5	MEX 3	NZL 6	CYP 3	GRC 19	TUR 4	ARG 1	FIN 3	GER 3	JPN 5	GBR 4	ITA 3	FRA 3	ESP 3	AUS DNS	4th	73
2005	Citroën Xsara WRC	1	Sébastien Loeb	MON 1	SWE Ret	MEX 4	NZL 1	ITA 1	CYP 1	TUR 1	GRE 1	ARG 1	FIN 2	GER 1	GBR 3	JPN 2	FRA 1	ESP 1	AUS Ret	1st	127	1st	188
		2	François Duval	MON Ret	SWE 12	MEX Ret	NZL 4	ITA 11	CYP Ret			ARG 7	FIN 8	GER 2	GBR 2	JPN 4	FRA Ret	ESP 2	AUS 1	6th	47
			Carlos Sainz							TUR 4	GRC 3									13th	11
2007	Citroën C4 WRC	1	Sébastien Loeb	MON 1	SWE 2	NOR 14	MEX 1	POR 1	ARG 1	ITA Ret	GRE 2	FIN 3	GER 1	NZL 2	ESP 1	FRA 1	JPN Ret	IRE 1	GBR 3	1st	116	2nd	183
		2	Daniel Sordo	MON 2	SWE 12	NOR 25	MEX 4	POR 3	ARG 6	ITA 3	GRE 24	FIN Ret	GER Ret	NZL 6	ESP 2	FRA 3	JPN 2	IRE 2	GBR 5	4th	65
2008	Citroën C4 WRC	1	Sébastien Loeb	MON 1	SWE Ret	MEX 1	ARG 1	JOR 10	ITA 1	GRE 1	TUR 3	FIN 1	GER 1	NZL 1	ESP 1	FRA 1	JPN 3	GBR 1		1st	122	1st	191
		2	Daniel Sordo	MON 11	SWE 6	MEX 16	ARG 3	JOR 2	ITA 5	GRE 5	TUR 4	FIN 4	GER 2	NZL 2	ESP 2	FRA Ret	JPN DSQ	GBR 3		3rd	65
2009	Citroën C4 WRC	1	Sébastien Loeb	IRE 1	NOR 1	CYP 1	POR 1	ARG 1	ITA 4	GRE Ret	POL 7	FIN 2	AUS 2	ESP 1	GBR 1					1st	93	1st	167
		2	Daniel Sordo	IRE 2	NOR 5	CYP 4	POR 3	ARG 2	ITA 22	GRE 11	POL 2	FIN 4	AUS 3	ESP 2	GBR 3					3rd	64
2010	Citroën C4 WRC	1	Sébastien Loeb	SWE 2	MEX 1	JOR 1	TUR 1	NZL 3	POR 2	BUL 1	FIN 3	GER 1	JPN 5	FRA 1	ESP 1	GBR 1				1st	276	1st	456
		2	Daniel Sordo	SWE 4	MEX 14	JOR 4	TUR Ret	NZL 5	POR 3	BUL 2		GER 2		FRA 2	ESP 3					5th	150
			Sébastien Ogier								FIN 2		JPN 1			GBR Ret				4th	167
2011	Citroën DS3 WRC	1	Sébastien Loeb	SWE 6	MEX 1	POR 2	JOR 3	ITA 1	ARG 1	GRE 2	FIN 1	GER 2	AUS 10	FRA Ret	ESP 1	GBR Ret				1st	222	1st	403
		2	Sébastien Ogier	SWE 4	MEX Ret	POR 1	JOR 1	ITA 4	ARG 3	GRE 1	FIN 3	GER 1	AUS 11	FRA 1	ESP Ret	GBR 11				3rd	196
2012	Citroën DS3 WRC	1	Sébastien Loeb	MON 1	SWE 6	MEX 1	POR Ret	ARG 1	GRE 1	NZL 1	FIN 1	GER 1	GBR 2	FRA 1	ITA Ret	ESP 1				1st	270	1st	453
		2	Mikko Hirvonen	MON 4	SWE 2	MEX 2	POR DSQ	ARG 2	GRE 2	NZL 2	FIN 2	GER 3	GBR 5	FRA 3	ITA 1	ESP 3				2nd	213
2013	Citroën DS3 WRC	1	Sébastien Loeb	MON 1	SWE 2	MEX	POR	ARG 1	GRE	ITA	FIN	GER	AUS	FRA Ret	ESP	GBR				8th	68	2nd	280
		2	Mikko Hirvonen	MON 4	SWE 17	MEX 2	POR 2	ARG 6	GRE 8	ITA Ret	FIN 4	GER 3	AUS 3	FRA 6	ESP 3	GBR Ret				4th	126
		3	Daniel Sordo	MON	SWE	MEX 4	POR 12	ARG	GRE 2	ITA 4	FIN 5	GER 1		FRA	ESP Ret	GBR 7				5th	123
			Kris Meeke										AUS Ret							-	0
		10	Daniel Sordo	MON 3				ARG 9						FRA 2						5th	123	6th	63
			Khalid Al Qassimi		SWE Ret		POR 9		GRE Ret	ITA 10		GER 11	AUS 9		ESP 11					21st	5
			Chris Atkinson			MEX 6														16th	8
			Kris Meeke								FIN Ret									-	0
			Robert Kubica													GBR Ret				13th	18
		14	Daniel Sordo		SWE Ret															5th	123
2014*	Citroën DS3 WRC	5	Kris Meeke	MON 3	SWE	MEX	POR	ARG	ITA	POL	FIN	GER	AUS	FRA	ESP	GBR				3rd	16	2nd	33
		6	Mads Østberg	MON 4	SWE	MEX	POR	ARG	ITA	POL	FIN	GER	AUS	FRA	ESP	GBR				5th	12

* Season in progress.

Cars

• Citroën Saxo S1600
• Citroën C2 S1600
• Citroën ZX Kit Car
• Citroën Xsara Kit Car
• Citroën Xsara T4/Citroën Xsara WRC
• Citroën C4 WRC
• Citroën DS3 WRC

Gallery

• 

  Sébastien Loeb – 2008 Rally Japan.

• 

  C4 WRC and Impreza WRC in the service park at the 2008 Jordan Rally.

• 

  1998 Rallye Villa de Llanes

• 

  2008 Monte Carlo Rally.

• 

  Sordo at the 2006 Rally Japan

• 

  2009 Cyprus Rally

• 

  Loeb at the 2005 Rally Cyprus

• 

  Citroen ZX Rally Raid

See also

• Citroën Junior Team
• Qatar World Rally Team

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Citroën WRC cars.