Citroen to demolish the competition in the WTCC with the new C-Elysée

• After an intense preparation programme, Citroën Racing will begin its maiden FIA World Touring Car Championship campaign in Morocco, with the C-Elysée WTCC making its racing debut
• Yvan Muller, Sébastien Loeb and José-Maria López will all be in action for Citroën at the opening round
• World Champion Muller comes with a wealth of WTCC experience, but Marrakech will be a first for Loeb and López

After nine months of preparation and over 10,000 km of testing, the Citroën Racing team is preparing to begin its debut season in the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC).

The season gets underway in Morocco, at the Circuit International Automobile Moulay El Hassan, also known as the Marrakech street circuit.  It’s a busy start to the 2014 season, with the first four rounds of this year’s competition taking place over just five weeks.  

Three Citroën C-Elysée WTCCs will be taking part in the season opener; Yvan Muller (n°1), Sébastien Loeb (n°9) and José-María López (n°37) will all be in action in Morocco.

Since the C-Elysée WTCC’s very first outing on 10 July 2013, Citroën Racing has undertaken an intense development programme with its four drivers: Sébastien Loeb, Yvan Muller, José-María López and Ma Qinq Hua.

Over the last few days, the team has stepped up its efforts even further in the workshops of its technical centre in Versailles. After being assembled, the first three racing cars were put through a “dress rehearsal” at the Magny-Cours circuit to iron out any glitches.

During this dummy run, Citroën Racing’s Managing Director, Yves Matton, took the opportunity to look back at what the team had achieved: “Starting a season is one thing, but starting your first season in a new discipline is something else entirely. Everything is new to us: the cars, of course, but also the equipment, the methods, the regulations, the race strategy… Every member of Citroën Racing has invested a huge amount of energy and enthusiasm to ensure that we are ready when the time comes.

“Of course, we would have liked to have had a few more days to prepare, but we can’t wait to get to Marrakech.

It will be the culmination of over a year’s work. Our challenge now is to develop the essential reflexes we need in order to be strong performers in WTCC. We will be looking closely at our first times to see where we stand in relation to the competition.”

A BIG CHALLENGE TO START THE SEASON

Used exclusively by the WTCC since 2009, the Moulay El Hassan circuit takes in the wide boulevards on the outskirts of Marrakech. At first glance, the circuit appears relatively straightforward, consisting mainly of straight sections, punctuated by chicanes.  

“Appearances can be deceptive,” says Yvan Muller, the only Citroën Racing driver to have raced in Morocco before. “In reality, it’s a very difficult circuit. Because it’s not a permanent track, the surface is very slippery at the start of a meeting. The key to a fast lap lies in how you tackle the rumble strips. You have to climb over them, or sometimes jump them, while making sure not to end up in the wall, of course! Obviously, we’ve worked on this in testing, but we will have to wait to be out on the track to get a clearer idea of what to do.”

With a very busy start to the season in prospect, the quadruple World Champion also thinks that starting the WTCC adventure on a street circuit will be particularly challenging: “Only a week after Marrakech, we’ll be at Paul Ricard for the second round. Even if all goes well, the mechanics won’t have a lot of time to get the cars ready. If there’s a lot of damage, things will be even tougher for them. That adds a little extra pressure.”

A BAPTISM OF FIRE FOR SEB AND PECHITO

Marrakech will be a first for Sébastien Loeb and José-María López. “Generally, I’m quite comfortable on street circuits, like Pau, Baku or Monaco,” says Seb, “but I haven’t had time to get to know Marrakech… and that won’t be the only new thing I have to get to grips with in the next few days! Even after a full season in GT, I’m still dreading the starts. It’s often very tricky when you’re trying to avoid dropping places on the first few corners.

“At the moment, the one thing I am sure about is the car, the Citroën C-Elysée WTCC. I know that we have done some good work on it and I’ve got a good feeling at the wheel. We may have got a head start on the competition in terms of development, but we also have less room for improvement than the teams that have only started their testing in the last few weeks. Like everyone, I’m feeling really motivated for the start of the season.”

“Testing is a really interesting part of our preparation, but I am glad to be going into the first meeting,” says Pechito (José-Maria López). We’ll get out on the track with our rivals and finally see if the work we have done pays off. I’ve already raced on quite a few street circuits – we’ve got a few in Argentina. It’s not my favourite style of race, but I think it’s a really positive thing to bring motorsport closer to the people.

“The circuit seems quite unusual, with high-speed chicanes and steep rumble strips, but we’ll see exactly what it’s like when we come to drive on it. The start of a season is always a special time, and this excitement is shared by the whole team. We are competitors, and we all want to make a good start and leave Marrakech in a good position in the championship!”

THE PROGRAMME

The WTCC cars will start their weekend with half an hour of free practice on Friday at 1.30 p.m. Two further practice sessions will be held on Saturday, at 9.00 a.m. and 11.15 a.m., to help the teams prepare for qualifying at 3 p.m. Like in Formula One, the crucial qualifying runs will take place in three stages. After an initial 20-minute session, Q1, the 12 fastest drivers will proceed to Q2. They will then have just 10 minutes to get themselves into the top five and win a place in Q3. In this last run, each driver has just one flying lap to try and clock the best time. The drivers who take part in Q3 receive five, four, three, two and one points towards their World Championship tally.

On the Sunday, race one (14 laps) will get underway at 4.20 p.m. The teams will then have just 15 minutes ‘repair time’ to prepare and/or repair their cars before the second race, which starts at 5.25 p.m., with the top ten qualifiers lining up in reverse order on the grid. Points are awarded to the top ten drivers in each race, as per the usual FIA scale.   

Peugeot returns to Dakar with Carlos Sainz in a 2008 DKR

After their extraordinary adventure in 2013, which saw them smash the record for the celebrated Pikes Peak Hill Climb, Peugeot Sport, Red Bull and Total have again joined forces for another exacting yet equally exciting challenge: the Dakar. To take on the 10,000km of the world’s longest and toughest cross-country rally 25 years after the French car manufacturer last contested the event, the team has recruited Carlos Sainz and Cyril Despres.

Last June’s memorable new record of 8m13.878s for the ascent of Pikes Peak confirmed that Peugeot Sport had lost none of its taste for motorsport. After emphatically showcasing its expertise on the celebrated climb’s steep, demanding course, the team could easily have contented itself with last year’s one-off foray. However, its passion for competition needed feeding with further stimulating new challenges and the next one will be the infamous Dakar.

Following last year’s intense adventure in the lofty mountains of Colorado, USA, Peugeot Sport, Red Bull and Total have decided to set their sights on the wide open spaces of South America which provide the backdrop for the toughest cross-country rally of them all. Inevitably, the decision recalls a particularly successful period in the history of the French team which made an indelible mark on the Dakar by winning the legendary competition four years running from 1987 until 1990, first with the 205 T16 Grand Raid, then with the equally iconic 405 T16 Grand Raid.

In between times, the Dakar has traded the dunes of northwest Africa for the tracks and trails of Latin America which are every bit as punishing for competitors and their machines. It is here, a quarter of a century after its last participation that Team Peugeot Total will take on its next challenge with a new car, the 2008 DKR. After last June’s 20-kilomètre asphalt sprint, it’s a two-week 10,000km marathon that will put Peugeot Sport’s all-round skills to the test in January 2015.

The Dakar will naturally be the chief focus of Peugeot’s new, multi-year programme which will also include a certain number of other events in order to help it to prepare for the annual South American marathon. The team’s driver line-up stars the 2010 Dakar victor Carlos Sainz, who brings his extensive experience and car-development skills to the table, as well as the event’s five-time winner on two wheels, Cyril Despres, who has chosen Peugeot to kick off a new career on four wheels.

Both drivers are eager to discover their car which was concocted by the same team that was behind the development of the 208 T16 Pikes Peak. More information about the car will be revealed at the Beijing Motor Show on 20 April.

Peugeot and the Dakar: a taste for adventure

Peugeot’s relationship with the Dakar in the past extends well beyond the cold, if impressive statistic of its score of four victories from four starts. On the contrary, it is founded on the many, occasional improbable-sounding tales the French make has to tell after contesting some 48,125km of competitive action in northwest Africa between 1987 and 1990…

On January 1, 1987, all the ingredients were in place to maximise Peugeot’s chances of success on the ‘Paris-Alger-Dakar’ at the first attempt. Its driver line-up included a certain Ari Vatanen whose 205 Turbo 16 was fittingly allocated number ‘205’, an ideal way of promoting the brand’s emblematic model. Unfortunately, an accident on the event’s short Prologue near Paris saw his car suffer serious damage and the Peugeot star fell to a lowly 274th overall! The rally had only just started, but the incident provided the team with a timely reminder of the Dakar’s uncompromising nature, however accustomed Peugeot Sport may have been to the ups and downs inherent in rallysport. Days later, team-mate Shekhar Mehta learned the same lesson while leading when the carefully-prepared game plan for his 205 T16 was spoilt by an inexplicable engine problem. Thankfully, Ari Vatanen’s thrilling fight-back enabled him to recover top spot and eventually collect Peugeot’s first Dakar triumph after some 13,000 kilometres of competition.

The 1988 event served to confirm the famous rally-raid’s unpredictability when an unbelievable misadventure troubled the plans of then Team Principal Jean Todt and the best-placed of the two 405 T16s which were entrusted with defending’s Peugeot’s colours. After 13 stages, Ari Vatanen arrived in Mali’s capital Bamako in front, but his 405 T16 was stolen during the night! It was eventually recovered but too late & the Finn was disqualified. The win eventually went to the 205 T16 of teammate Juha Kankkunen who had been recruited to serve as Vatanen’s rapid assistance driver!

The 405 T16 Grand Raid finally got its chance in 1989 after an enthralling battle between team-mates Ari Vatanen and Jacky Ickx. To make sure their duel didn’t end in tears and scupper Peugeot’s chances, the team decided to settle the issue by tossing a coin at the overnight halt in Gao, Mali. The result favoured Ari Vatanen who went on to claim victory, despite rolling twice.

The following year, the Finn managed to build up a safety margin of two hours at the top of the order, which was just as well since he had a troubled day on the leg from Niamey and Gao, again in Mali. The stage placed the emphasis on navigational skills, but Vatanen’s codriver was poorly and his compass was faulty. To crown it all, the Peugeot driver punched a big hole in the bodywork of his 405 when he hit a tree! That failed to faze the Finn, however, and he survived to collect Peugeot’s fourth straight Dakar win.

 

Four questions to Maxime Picat, Peugeot CEO

“Our aim is to win the Dakar in 2015”

• What is the reason for Peugeot’s Dakar comeback?

Maxime Picat: “It obviously follows in the wake of our Pikes Peak victory in 2013. That was a very special moment which showcased what Peugeot Sport is capable of achieving in association with Total and Red Bull. It was a win that gave us wings and led us to take a close look at what other motorsport programmes we could do together. The result of that process was the decision to return to the Dakar.”

• Is Peugeot’s Dakar programme as ambitious as last year’s Pikes Peak operation?

Maxime Picat: “Our Pikes Peak programme was a success because we succeeded in bringing together an outstanding driver, a remarkable team and a car of the very highest quality. We have set our sights high for the Dakar, too, and the team will once again be able to count on all the necessary talent and skills. Our intention is to have everything in place for next year’s Dakar, even though our strategy is based on a longer term than was the case for the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, since we will be involved for several years. We are perfectly aware that the Dakar is a very difficult event but our aim is nonetheless to win at first attempt in 2015.”

• How important an event is the Dakar for Automobiles Peugeot?

Maxime Picat: “We are delighted to be returning to the Dakar because it’s an event which enjoys extensive coverage globally. It is well known in Europe, as well as in such important markets as South America and China. It takes place in South America, with much of the action in Argentina where Peugeot has traditionally enjoyed a strong foothold.”

• Why did you decide to compete with the 2008?

Maxime Picat: “The 2008 conveys a strong image on every continent. It is our latest crossover and is proving a big hit in Europe, ahead of its launches in China and Latin America in 2015. The 2008 DKR stood out as the obvious choice.”

Three questions to Bruno Famin, Director of Peugeot Sport

“We are very proud to have Carlos and Cyril in the team”

• Peugeot Sport can look back at an excellent record on the Dakar. Will your past results be of help for your new challenge?

Bruno Famin: “The Dakar has changed a great deal in the past 25 years but you still design cars in the same way. We still have a certain amount of data from the late 1980s which we will be able to use. Above all, though, we have built up considerable experience of designing rally cars. Cross-country rallies and conventional rallies are effectively slightly different, but the approach and know-how are exactly the same. And that know-how is something we have.”

• What guided your choice of drivers?

Bruno Famin: “First let me say how proud the team is to be able to count on the services of two such hugely talented drivers as Carlos and Cyril. Their respective profiles are perfectly complementary. Carlos has an incredible record in motorsport and his car development skills are well documented. In all the teams he has worked with, he has contributed to producing winning cars. His experience will be an important asset for the team, while his enthusiasm and will to win are just as exceptional. Cyril has an impressive record, too, although on bikes, of course, and he is looking forward to discovering the world of motorsport on four wheels. Judging by the way the two are getting along together, I am sure it won’t be long before Cyril is competitive.”

• How did the staff at Peugeot Sport respond to the news of this comeback?

Bruno Famin: “The reaction of everyone at Peugeot Sport has been very good. The announcement of a programme for the medium term is obviously excellent news after the difficult years we have experienced recently. At the same time, the Dakar is an integral part of Peugeot’s history and everyone is very proud to be involved in this event again. We actually still have some people who were part of the original adventure, and one of them has already started working on the new project.”

Three questions to Carlos Sainz

“A proposal that was too good to resist”

• What made you decide to join Peugeot?

Carlos Sainz: “I have often competed against Peugeot Sport in the past and I have known for years just how passionate it is about motorsport. I also know that when they decide on a programme, they put everything into it. I’m the same. Given how much I love the Dakar, it was too good a proposal to resist when Peugeot asked me to be part of its line-up for its comeback to this unique adventure.”

• Peugeot hasn’t done the Dakar for 25 years. Do you see that as a handicap?

Carlos Sainz: “I don’t think so, because Peugeot has never stopped making cars of a very high standard for disciplines like rallying and endurance racing. The new 208 T16 R5 is a fine example. At the same time, I have already won the Dakar and I will be able to bring my own experience of the event in four-wheel and two-wheel drive cars to the table. We are ready for the challenge.”

• Do you believe the team can be competitive quickly?

Carlos Sainz: “In motorsport, you can never take anything for granted. The level of competition on the Dakar today is very high and it’s an event that really isn’t easy to win. We won’t have much time before our first attempt, either, but I feel confident because the team is clearly extremely motivated and we will work hard to try to win.”

Carlos Sainz in brief

Born April 12, 1962, in Madrid, Spain. Lives in Madrid, Spain.

• Winner of the Dakar in 2010
• Seven previous Dakar participations: one victory (2010), one 3rd place (2011), one 9th place (2007), one 11th place (2006) and three retirements (2009, 2013 and 2014)
• Winner of the Cross-Country Rally World Cup in 2007
• Two-time World Rally Champion (1990 and 1992) and four-time runner-up
• 26 World Rally Championship victories

Three questions to Cyril Despres

“The beginning of a new life for me”

• You enjoyed a highly successful career as a biker, with five Dakar wins to your name. Why have you decided to switch to four wheels?

Cyril Despres: “It was a natural process. When you do the Dakar on a motorbike, you can spend up to 10 hours on your own every day, so you have plenty of time to reflect on different things. In fact, the idea dawned on me during last January’s Dakar, then Peugeot and Red Bull came up with this incredible opportunity. I am very proud. I didn’t take me long to weigh up the pros and the cons! For me, it’s a dream come true and the beginning of a new life.”

• How are you approaching this new challenge?

Cyril Despres: “I am aware that this is a tremendous opportunity to join the car guys at the sharp end, and with a competitive and professional team like Peugeot. I’m not sure I would have made the same jump for another team. I have strong recollections of Peugeot winning the Dakar when I was a kid and I can’t wait to get a chance to drive the new car…”

• Certain successful bikers have gone on to win the Dakar on four wheels. What is your objective?

Cyril Despres: “To begin with, my aim will be to learn and help as much as I can. I should be able to make good progress in a team like Peugeot and with a teammate like Carlos Sainz. That’s so stimulating. I really want to familiarise myself with the way these cars function and how to drive them, as well as with how to work with a co-driver. Sharing so much time with someone sitting next to you will be difficult because I’ve been accustomed to being on my own for the past 15 years!”

Cyril Despres in brief

Born January 24, 1974, in Fontainebleau, France. Lives in Andorra.

• Five-time Dakar bike winner (2005, 2007, 2010, 2012 and 2013)
• 14 previous Dakar participations on two-wheels: five victories, three 2nd places (2006, 2009 and 2011), one 3rd place (2004), two 4th places (2003 and 2014), one 13th place (2001), one 16th place (2000) and one retirement (2002)
• Cross-Country Rally World Champion (2003)
• World Team Enduro Champion (2001)