Kris Meeke confirmed in Spain

Just after the announcement of the arrival ofAndreas Mikkelsen at Hyundai Motorsport, Citroën Racing has confirmed its crews for the Rally from Spain (October 5-8). The Chevron manufacturer will field Stéphane Lefebvre, Kris Meeke and Khalid Al Qassimi. Craig Breen will travel to take part in reconnaissance and will be present at the last two rounds of the season with Wales Rally GB (October 26-29) and Rally Australia (November 16-19).

“As fast on dirt as on asphalt, Kris Meeke will be able to start again on the basis of the confidence acquired during the second stage in Germany, with the ambition of achieving a positive result. Stéphane Lefebvre, whose appointment was announced several weeks ago, will also be able to confirm his progress. Finally, Khalid Al Qassimi will drive the third C3 on a rally that he particularly appreciates”, comments Yves Matton, director of Citroën Racing.

“Craig Breen fans will be disappointed not to see him at the start, but I have to deal with budgetary constraints which do not allow us to enter more cars, explains Yves Matton. From the start of the season, Craig's program was planned for eleven rallies and we felt, in consultation with him, that it was preferable for him to start in Great Britain and Australia. »

Yves Matton also had a word for Andreas Mikkelsen who gave Citroën Racing a podium at the German Rally with 2nd place for his 3rd start of the season in a C3 WRC.

“I would also like to congratulate Andreas Mikkelsen and Anders Jæger on their new steering wheel, adds Yves Matton. I really enjoyed our collaboration with them and it's a good thing for the WRC that they are back full time. Andreas was among the options considered to complete our driver line-up in 2018, but he was not the one we favored when it came time to position ourselves. »

Citroën Racing could well still be in discussions with Sébastien Loeb and Sébastien Ogier for 2018 as we mentioned in issue 2128 of AUTOhebdo.