Didier Clément: “We will continue with Yohan Rossel in 2023”

Yohan Rossel lost his chances of fighting for the title in the last Acropolis special. What do you remember from his performance over the whole year?

We are competitors and we love winning races and championships. It's a shame to have made this mistake. It was obviously a trap and its trajectory was too perfect. If he had not committed it, others would have done it after him. The title is certainly not over, but Yohan nevertheless demonstrated very good things. The objective this year was to fight consistently with the best in the category. That's exactly what he did. He achieved good results, showing speed, consistency and racing intelligence. This is why we will continue with him.

With which team?

It is impossible to say today. This will be decided through a call for tenders which will very soon be open to the different teams.

Will there only be one program or will you provide support to different drivers like last year or this year?

The objective is to share and there are indeed important and nice things to do. However, it is a somewhat complicated period. We are both well ahead of the first round of 2023, but on the other hand all the directions are taken now. We have until mid-December to commit to the championship, but 80% of the project must be completed by the end of November. In a month, things should change quite a bit.

What will happen to the development of the C3 Rally2? Will it continue?

We are very motivated to extend this product. There is no question of abandoning this car. We have a substantial program planned which will allow us to continue to develop this car.

How should Yohan Rossel’s participations be organized? Should you focus on the rallies he already knows or on the contrary should you opt for new rounds in order to increase his experience?

I think the truth lies somewhere between the two. Only doing trips he's never played in wouldn't make sense, but including a few would. Perhaps we should try to capitalize on events where he has a participation like Estonia two years ago.

Should this program be done by only retaining rounds where you have a good chance of scoring big points like Chile, Safari, etc.?

For Yohan and us, the interest is to demonstrate that he is a talented boy and that the C3 is a reliable and efficient car. Winning alone has no meaning.