WRC2 – Citroën favorite at the Monte-Carlo Rally?

The 2023 winners put their title back on the line: the Yohan Rossel – Arnaud Dunand tandem will try to win a second Rally Consecutive Monte-Carlo in WRC2, and potentially a third success at “Monte-Carl’” if we count the victory in WRC3 in 2021. The French duo will legitimately act as favorites on the roads alpines, aboard the Citroën C3, a true benchmark for Rally2s on asphalt.

This season, the chevron brand is seeing its WRC2 program gain momentum, by fielding a second “semi-official” C3 at the Monte-Carlo Rally, with the Nikolay Gryazin – Aleksandrov Konstantin crew. The Bulgarian driver will discover the Citroën, having previously driven the Skoda Fabia RS Rally2. To meet the requirements of the category, in the face of competition that is sharper and tougher than ever – especially with the arrival of the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 – the French manufacturer had to evolve its mount to stay in the game.

“We are proud to once again have top-notch crews this season in all of the targeted championships, starting with the triplet lined up in WRC2, rejoices Didier Clement, Customer Sports Competition Manager at Stellantis Motorsport. Yohan Rossel and Nikolay Gryazin will be the first in action this weekend in an event which promises to be true to its reputation, that is to say particularly demanding, but they have the talent and the weapons to do well. Especially since the C3 Rally2 has further progressed throughout 2023 thanks to the work carried out by the Citroën Racing technical team and we will continue this momentum this year, with several developments to come, in order to increase always increasing our performance levels on asphalt and dirt. »

Citroën, a shock duo to start the season

Yohan Rossel, winner of Monte-Carlo in 2023 and third in the WRC2 championship, assumes his role as favorite and displays very high ambitions at the start of the season. “I am delighted to start the season at Monte-Carlo, especially since it is an event that I won last year. This does not guarantee that the situation will be identical this year, but in any case the goal is to play for victory again and score big points from the start of the season, declares the Nîmes. It's always a complicated rally and I have the impression that with the return to Gap, it promises to be even more difficult. It's good for the show, with a lot of competition expected, a great first evening! In any case, I approach the event with confidence, the C3 is one of the best Rally2s, I feel good at the wheel as well as in the team, now it is up to us to try hard to start the year well. »

Nikolay Gryazin, short-lived winner of Monte-Carlo in 2023 before suffering a penalty and falling to second place, will still be in a discovery phase of the Citroën C3 Rally2 this weekend. “The feeling is quite good because the car corresponds to my driving style, I have competed in the rally several times and it is run on a surface that I like, explains the Bulgarian. This season promises to be a great challenge in any case: we saw last year what Yohan was able to do with the C3 Rally2, we also saw it in the European Championship or in France, it is clearly competitive, but the competition looks set to be fierce too. It is therefore up to us to adapt it as best as possible to my riding as well as to the specificities of each terrain. »

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