WTCC – Time for revenge

The first season of the new regulations immediately propelled Citroën in the firmament of the discipline. The French team will hardly be able to do better, but the interest of this second exercise, which begins at the end of the week on the grounds of the reigning champion, Jose Maria Lopez, raises two major questions.

The first will find its answer in the forces present. The C-Élysée, who had benefited from a much more comfortable development time than that available to the competition in 2014, due to involvement in the old formula or awaiting an investment decision, will they see the redesigned Honda Civic and Chevrolet Cruze, or the new Lada Vesta, match their effectiveness?

The second big question arises internally for the troupe led by Yves Matton: what hierarchy will be established in the rankings for the 2015 season? Yvan muller, the most experienced, will he manage to match the performances of the Argentinian, author of a masterstroke in his first season, to claim a fifth crown? And Sébastien Loeb, who showed last year to be at approximately the same level in pure performance, will he improve his level of play in the peloton race, a sector where he still suffers from a certain lack of experience? What roles will the Chinese play? Ma Qinghua, the fourth full-time official driver, as well as the private Mehdi Bennani, entered within Sébastien Loeb Racing? An armada of C-Élysée, which will undoubtedly strengthen Citroën's chances in the Manufacturers' championship, but which could well spice up that of the Drivers...

Find our complete presentation of the 2015 WTCC in issue 2001 of AUTOhebdo, available now in digital version and on newsstands.