Citroën is banking “on the robustness of the C3 WRC” for Turkey

Citroën is the only brand on the plateau WRC not to have won yet this year. The Chevron manufacturer hopes to make a difference this weekend by tackling the new course of the Rally of Turkey planned around Marmaris which will offer rough roads similar to Sardinia.

The Red team celebrated the first victory on gravel for the Xsara WRC with Carlos Sainz in 2003. Citroën remains the most successful brand in this event with 4 victories in 6 participations.

“On this new ground for everyone, everyone will start on an equal footing, so the debates promise to be more open than ever, explains Pierre Budar, director of Citroën Racing. Reliability is likely to be a key factor for the weekend, but we know we can count on the robustness of our C3 WRC. If we have a solid base, we will have to demonstrate a rapid capacity to adapt in the possible refinement of our settings, while the crews will have to carry out effective reconnaissance to evolve with confidence from the first pass in the race. »

Testing having been banned in the region, Citroën chose Aude to carry out its preparation.

“We're expecting a hot, technical rally that's tough on the cars and that's what we prepared for during our recent tests in Aude., explains Mads Ostberg, 9th in the general classification. I am rather confident, because I have always done well in this type of race. Then the C3 WRC is even more efficient and easier to drive than it was in Sardinia, the last event contested on a similar profile, and we will also be able to transpose some of our lessons from Finland onto this terrain. . »

His teammate Craig Breen who follows in the general classification one point behind the Norwegian remains measured on his pretensions and prefers to wait for the recognitions to form an opinion.

“The objective is to really manage to complete a first stage without any setbacks, in which case we should be in the match and ideally placed for the rest of the hostilities. It is difficult to draw real lessons from the organizer's videos recorded in a production car, one thing is certain however, the route promises to be interesting, with a nice variety of roads, sometimes narrow, technical, rough, other times faster », adds the Irishman.

L’effectif sera complété avec la C3 WRC de Khalid Al Qassimi. Citroën reste en dernière place au Championnat Constructeurs avec 65 points de retard sur M-Sport.