Citroen Racing announces it's plans for the next few years, OUT goes WTCC IN comes WRC.

Unveiling its future in motor sport, Citroën has announced that it will be taking part in the World Rally Championship from 2017.The team’s entry will be based on cars designed in line with the FIA’s new technical regulations. 

In order to dedicate as many resources as possible to development of the new car, the Citroën Racing team will be putting its involvement in the WRC on hold next season. 

In 2016, the Citroën Total team will defend its FIA WTCC world titles with two Citroën C-Elysée WTCCs, driven by José María López and Yvan Muller.

Citroën has won an incredible fifteen world titles over the last twenty-two years, between 1993 and 2015: five in the Cross Country Rally World Cup, eight in the WRC and two in the WTCC.

The brand’s success in the motor sport industry has become a key component in developing Citroën’s new brand image, while contributing to the growth of the company.

As the 2015 season draws to a close, Citroën outlined plans for its next challenge, focusing on the brand’s core values: team spirit, pushing yourself to the limit and creativity. In line with the strategy defined by Carlos Tavares, Chairman of the PSA Peugeot Citroën Management Board, the brand will concentrate its sporting commitments on a single worldwide programme.

After reviewing all of the current motor sport categories, Citroën has chosen to compete in the FIA World Rally Championship due to the brand's past success in the sport and future opportunities available that will reaffirm the brand’s position in the industry.

“With eight world titles and a record 94 wins, Citroën has certainly enjoyed unrivalled success in the WRC,” commented Linda Jackson, Chief Executive Officer of the Citroën brand. “Rallying is a fascinating sport, which tests the performance, reliability and solidity of the cars and drivers in some magnificent settings. 

The category is taking off again, with increasingly widespread live television coverage and the arrival of China on the calendar in 2016. In 2017, the appearance of a new generation of cars will coincide with our renewed involvement. 

Everything will therefore be in place for us to write a new chapter in the brand’s history. Given Citroën’s rich heritage, this challenge had to be ambitious with new objectives that will motivate the team and ensure continual success.”

The 2017 generation of World Rally Cars will be more impressive with more powerful engines and imposing aerodynamic features. This radical change in the regulations will enable Citroën Racing to compete on equal terms with its rivals, after devoting 2016 to the development of the new model.

“We have always been interested in the 2017 WRC regulations and the entire team is extremely motivated by this new challenge,” commented Yves Matton, Citroën Racing Team Principal.

“We’re excited by this new level of freedom to make the cars more spectacular, but also the possibility of reusing development work done on the Citroën C-Elysée WTCC’s engine. 

With a view to managing our resources efficiently, we have decided to focus all our efforts on designing and developing our new World Rally Car. This is why Citroën will not be competing in the 2016 World Rally Championship as a works team. 

We will obviously be keeping a close eye on the WRC, both with the organisation of the FIA Junior WRC and with the WRC2 programme for Quentin Gilbert, this year’s JWRC Champion*.”

A THIRD SEASON IN THE FIA WTCC

Citroën Racing does not intend to stay out of racing altogether next year. 

After starting in 2014, the FIA WTCC programme will conclude at the end of a third season. As the category leader since it entered the WTCC, the Citroën Total team will be aiming to successfully defend its manufacturers’ and drivers’ titles. 

Two Citroën C-Elysée WTCCs will be entrusted to two drivers who have claimed six of the category’s last eight world titles*: the Argentinian José María López and the Frenchman Yvan Muller.

“Still determined to make the most of our resources, we will de defending our titles with a team of two works cars,” said Yves Matton. “With the arrival of a new, ambitious manufacturer, we’re expecting the competition to be even tougher next year. 

Pechito and Yvan are used to working together and making the success of the team their number one priority. 

Next year, they will need to be even more together to enable Citroën to conclude its programme successfully. Other Citroën C-Elysée WTCCs may be entered by the Sébastien Loeb Racing team for private drivers.”

“The last two years have undoubtedly been the greatest of my career. I am therefore delighted to be able to continue competing with Citroën Racing in 2016,” commented Pechito López. “We are going to keep working, all together, so that the Citroën C-Elysée WTCC remains the category’s leading car. And our goal is to defend our titles!”

“I’m proud to have taken part in building what is currently the best team in the FIA WTCC. I’m also honoured to have been chosen to continue competing on behalf of Citroën,” added Yvan Muller.

“We have to adjust to the new shape of the team, but we can count on the talent and experience of the team to maintain the same level of excellence.”

THE START OF A NEW ADVENTURE FOR SÉBASTIEN LOEB

Nine-time World Rally Champion with Citroën, Sébastien Loeb is also one of the most versatile drivers ever seen in the history of motor sport. 24 Hours of Le Mans, F1, GT, Pikes Peak and, of course, the WTCC all feature among the experiences of this prodigiously talented racing driver. 

For his next challenge, Sébastien Loeb has chosen to take on the Dakar Rally, alongside his long-time co-driver Daniel Elena as part of the Peugeot Sport team. 

PSA Peugeot Citroën’s iconic ambassador, the Frenchman is switching from red to blue but with the change comes a new chapter that is about to begin.

“This marks the end of one chapter for me, but what I want to focus on today is my satisfaction at having participated in Citroën’s success in the WRC and WTCC,” said Sébastien Loeb. 

“Apart from the figures and the records, we have shared some magnificent experiences together. It’s hard to believe that most of the members of this amazing team started fifteen years ago! I’ll miss their hunger for success and limitless motivation, but I won’t be far away. 

I’m staying within the PSA Peugeot Citroën group to take on a new challenge.”

“In the last fifteen years, Sébastien Loeb and Citroën have made history together. It has been an absolutely incredible period that will leave a lasting mark in the world of motor sport. 

We would like to thank him for all these wins, titles and records, which have helped to renew the brand and boost its international reputation,” emphasised Linda Jackson. “Sébastien is now about to embark on a new adventure with another brand in the group. We wish them lots of success together, starting with next year’s Dakar Rally.”

CITROËN AND CROSS COUNTRY RALLYING IN FIGURES

5 world titles 1993-1997

36 wins i.e. 86% of races

4 Dakar Rally wins 1991, 1994, 1995 and 1996

CITROËN AND THE WRC IN FIGURES

8 world titles 2003-2005 and 2008-2012	94 wins (record)	38 consecutive podiums (record) Mexico 2008 – GB 2010
29 one-two finishes (record)	78 wins for Sébastien Loeb (record)	9 world titles for Loeb/Elena (2004-2012)

CITROËN AND THE WTCC IN FIGURES

2 world titles 2014-2015*

36 wins i.e. 80% of races

21 pole positions i.e. 91% of meetings

* Subject to publication of the official results by the FIA.

José María López secured his second successive FIA World Touring Car Championship title.

By claiming pole position and victory in race one, José María López secured his second successive FIA World Touring Car Championship title* with the Citroën Total team. 

The Argentine driver was joined on the podium by his teammates Sébastien Loeb and Ma Qing Hua, who also took second and third positions in race two. The Citroën C-Elysée WTCCs had started the day in style by achieving the unprecedented feat of occupying the top five places in qualifying. 

The manufacturers’ and drivers’ titles may be sewn up, but Citroën is keeping up the suspense: Yvan Muller and Sébastien Loeb are now separated by just two points and will battle it out for the runner-up spot in Qatar.

With no real hierarchy having emerged after Saturday’s free practice sessions, the drivers turned up for qualifying needing to lay their cards on the table. Drawing on what they had learned the previous day, the Citroën C-Elysée WTCC drivers took the top five positions in Q3 for the first time. For the sixth time this season, José María López was the quickest man on track, followed by Sébastien Loeb, Yvan Muller, Ma Qing Hua and Mehdi Bennani in that order.

By late afternoon, the main stand of the Chang International Circuit was packed as the cars lined up on the starting grid. The weather conditions were extreme, with temperatures of 33°C, 60% humidity, and a track temperature of 45°C.

When the lights went out, José María López got off to a perfect start. He reached the first turn in the lead, followed by Sébastien Loeb, with Ma Qing Hua and Yvan Muller neck-and-neck behind them. Muller, as it turned out, would not make it much further. After being run into by two other drivers, he was forced to return to the pits with a broken rear-end assembly. Mehdi Bennani took advantage of this to move up into third.

Once the safety car had been and gone, Ma Qing Hua got the better of the Moroccan driver, and there would be no further changes to the top four before the finish. Despite coming under constant pressure from Sébastien Loeb, José María López clinched his ninth race win of the season. In doing so, he scored the points he needed to secure a second consecutive FIA World Touring Car Championship title.

The celebrations would have to wait, however, as the drivers were immediately back out on track for race two. Once again, the start was a chaotic affair. Yvan Muller was forced to pull out at the very first turn after a collision with Ma Qing Hua. Michelisz led at the end of lap one, with Monteiro, Chilton, Loeb, Qing Hua and López in pursuit.

The race was full of incident, with plenty of overtaking. Sébastien Loeb gradually worked his way up the field into second place. Picking up the pace, he was right on Monteiro’s tail when the red flag was brought out due to fading light.

Loeb had to settle for second position, with Ma Qing Hua and José María López, who had both pulled off some impressive overtaking manoeuvres of their own, in third and fourth respectively.

WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY

Yves Matton (Team Principal, Citroën Racing): “After winning the Manufacturers’ World Championship in Shanghai, it is a great joy to see José María López claim another drivers’ title. It is just reward for a season of consistently excellent performances. It might not be the most significant event of the day, but I will take away especially fond memories of our exploits in qualifying, where we took the top five places. With only five of our cars competing, that is pretty hard to beat! It shows the team spirit we have, which enables us to keep progressing and improving together. Race 2 ended in frustrating fashion, however: had the red flag not come out, Sébastien Loeb might have been able to push for victory.”

José María López: “I am so happy to have won this second World Championship title. Last year, people focused on the fact that mine was the first title for an Argentine driver since Juan Manuel Fangio. But this year, I’m thinking first and foremost about my family, who have sacrificed a lot for me to be able to come and race in Europe. I started my career at the age of 23. After all these seasons, my passion remains undiminished and retaining this World Championship title is a massive achievement. I would also like to thank the Citroën Racing team, who gave me a chance and have given me carte blanche to compete hard against my prestigious teammates. I think the standard has gone up a level this year. That is probably why I’m feeling even more emotional than I did in 2014. I want to savour this moment.”

Sébastien Loeb: “Congratulations to Pechito on another title! Working with him is a pleasure. We have had a great working relationship for nearly two years now. But beating him is just as hard as ever! I ended up with two podium finishes, so I’m happy with my day, but I’m a little frustrated too. Without the red flag, I could probably have gone after Tiago and challenged him for victory. I’m now right up there with Yvan in the championship standings. Anything is possible and I’ll be going to Qatar aiming for the World Championship runner-up spot!”

Yvan Muller: “It’s a good thing qualifying was scheduled for Sunday morning. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have done much driving today! What can I say? Obviously, I’m disappointed to have ended up with two DNFs after two early-race collisions. But that is the nature of our sport. In any case, I was already out of the running for the championship. Congratulations to José on his title. He’s had the perfect season.”

Ma Qing Hua: “I’m happy for Pechito; he really deserves his title. He has been terrific this year, but I’m happy to be his teammate because I’m learning a lot from him. It was a tough day, with very small gaps between drivers. We put in a lot of work after qualifying and I was lucky enough to pick up two podium places in the races. That means I’m still sitting in fourth place in the overall standings, but I’ll have to keep pushing hard till the very end!”