Loeb: Citroën calms the controversy

Reacting to rumors and media speculation in recent days, Citroën Racing and Sébastien Loeb wish to clarify their situation. Pilot of rally the most successful of all time, with 52 victories and 5 world titles, Sébastien Loeb and Citroën have a single objective this year: to retain the two World Rally Champion titles (Drivers and Manufacturers). Sébastien Loeb is under contract with Citroën until the end of the year and negotiations for 2010 are being finalized.

A high-level athlete, Sébastien Loeb may be required to take on new challenges, as was notably the case at the end of 2008 with tests on RedBull. F1 et Peugeot 908 HDi FAP. His desire to get back behind the wheel of an F1 and the opportunities that could present themselves to him thanks to common partners cannot replace Citroën?s objective for the 2009 season.

Sébastien Loeb: “II know my priority: it?s the World Rally Championship but what do you want a driver to say when we ask him if he wants to drive in an F1 car? However, with four rallies remaining, we face a real challenge to win a sixth Drivers' title. and a fifth ?Constructors? title. for Citroën. I'm only thinking about that for the moment. I am a little surprised by the turn this ?affair? has taken, and especially by the distorted or out-of-context use of my words to relay rumors. It's not really my style to declare in the press that I was aiming for Sébastien's position Bourdais? »

Olivier Quesnel, Director of Citroën Racing: “ Citroën Racing has never prevented its drivers from expressing their passion for driving. As we had already announced, Sébastien Loeb will soon be testing the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP, because I know it is important for him to have more experience behind the wheel. If the opportunity to race in F1 presented itself for Seb, we would not try to prevent him from doing so, so long as it was after the last rally of 2009. At the end of the month, we will tackle the challenge represented by the Rally of Finland . The 2009 World Rally Championship is exciting and I just hope we trigger the same media buzz as these rumors surrounding Formula 1. »