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52-535: As of January 2023, the department's primary function is manufacturing the C3 Rally2 along with distribution of parts, including for its catalogue of out-of-production cars. It no longer contests motorsport directly itself although Citroën provide support through the brand to privateer entries of the C3. Retail sales of official Citroën Racing branded merchandise is handled by Peugeot Citroën Racing Shop . Citroën Racing

104-597: A Citroën ZX , which delivered four wins of the Paris-Dakar Rally amongst other successes. Ari Vatanen and Jacky Ickx were amongst the enlisted drivers. Later in the 1990s, the focus returned to the World Rally Championship with the two-wheel-drive Xsara Kit Car competing in the 2-Litre World Rally Cup for Manufacturers . Although championship success would elude the team, the crew of Philippe Bugalski and Jean-Paul Chiaroni won both

156-423: A WRC car. For the 2002 season, Citroën contested 8 of the 14 WRC rounds. However, owner PSA still refused to allow them to enter the manufacturer's championship facing their other marque Peugeot. . Sébastien Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena provisionally won the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally but due to an illegal tyre change, received a time penalty demoting him to second. He later won his first rally driving

208-520: A chance with the third Citroën DS3 WRC in Finland. Sordo finished 5th, and Hirvonen 3rd despite a high speed, 6th gear spin. Meeke was on the pace of the WRC regulars even though he was held up by Qatar World Rally Team's Evgeny Novikov , although his rally ended when he rolled at high speed with only one stage to run. However, his performance left Sordo under pressure to perform to avoid losing his seat with

260-489: A few rallies in the third factory car. Al-Qassimi drove several races during the season again. Citroën's best result of the season was Rally Argentina. All three VW drivers retired due to engine problems and Meeke scored his first WRC victory. Østberg finished second and Al-Qassimi scored his season-best sixth place. After the season, Citroën announced that they would withdraw from the 2016 championship, to use all their resources to developing their 2017 car. In preparation of

312-894: A manufacturer team in the WRC-2 and made the C3 R5 available to privateer teams in the WRC-3. The C3 R5 was renamed the Citroën C3 Rally2 ahead of the 2021 championships. - * scored points with different entries. - ** season still in progress. Citro%C3%ABn Total World Rally Team The Citroën Total World Rally Team was the Citroën factory backed entry into the World Rally Championship (WRC), run by Citroën Racing . In 1998, following its withdrawal from Rally raid competition, Citroën Sport began developing

364-621: A non-competitive entrant to the rally. The Citroën C3 R5 passed international homologation on 1 January 2018, and was now ready for competition. It made its competitive rallying debut at the Tour de Corse in April of that year, with Yoann Bonato taking second place in the WRC-2 class , and 10th overall in the rally. Including the original test cars, a total of 26 C3 R5s had been constructed by 1 May 2019, with 22 having been sold to independent teams. In

416-441: A performance clause, following a series of mechanical failures that cost him vital wins and championship points. After Ogier experienced hydraulic issues at Rally de Catalunya which handed the championship title to rival Ott Tänak , his wife, Andrea Kaiser , publicly humiliated the company and created a media stir by tweeting her opinion, calling shame on the company and by using the hashtag "#Shitroen". Citroën Racing withdrew from

468-405: A typically dominant year after the retirement of Grönholm, Loeb's eleven wins for the season broke his existing 2005 record (10) for the greatest number of wins for one driver in an individual season, as well as bringing his own career total of WRC rally victories to 47. A still winless Sordo, with 65 points, nevertheless accomplished third in the drivers' standings. Loeb and Sordo were retained for

520-423: Is a constituent of Stellantis Motorsport along with other motorsport and performance brands, subsidiaries and departments within the portfolio of Citroën's parent company, Stellantis . Citroën Racing has also previously been known as Citroën Compétitions and Citroën Sport . Although Citroën vehicles had been used by privateers for many years previously, the department originates from 1960 when René Cotton ,

572-527: The 1999 Rally Catalunya and Tour de Corse outright, out-pacing the more powerful and four-wheel-drive World Rally Cars . These wins are credited as helping the FIA to decide on abandoning the class and cup at the end of the year, to replace them with less powerful Super 1600 cars from 2001. The Saxo VTS was one such car, which Citroën Sport entered into the Super 1600 Championship for Drivers with Sébastien Loeb at

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624-573: The FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies for 5 years from 1993 to 1997. It also took drivers Pierre Lartigue and Ari Vatanen to title glory in those years. However, in 1997, Citroën Sport announced withdrawal from the rally raid discipline to focus on the Saxo and Xsara rally and racing cars. The ZX Rallye Raid also saw success in the Paris–Dakar Rally , winning four times; and twice in

676-864: The Xsara Kit Car . Citroën entered the French Rally Championship in 1998 with Philippe Bugalski , who won driver's titles in both 1998 and 1999; and Sébastien Loeb who won the driver's title in 2001. In addition, Citroën also entered the car on asphalt rounds of the World Rally Championship . Bugalski finished fifth on the car's WRC debut on Rally Catalunya in April 1998, while Jesús Puras retired with engine problems. On Tour de Corse , Fabien Doenlen finished seventh and Patrick Magaud finished tenth whilst Bugalski retired with broken suspension. On Rallye Sanremo , Magaud finished 11th, Puras retired with engine problems and Bugalski crashed out. In 1999, Bugalski and Puras were entered to

728-641: The 2009 season. Loeb won the opening five events of the season, but suffered a mid-season drop in form and fell behind Mikko Hirvonen in the standings. However, he won the title by one point after winning the final two rounds of the season. Sordo finished third in the standings, scoring seven podium finishes, but still no wins. Loeb and Sordo were retained again for the 2010 season. Loeb won in Mexico, Jordan, Turkey and Bulgaria. Citroën Junior Team driver and Citroën protégé Sébastien Ogier won in Portugal, increasing

780-442: The 2017 season, Citroën took a sabbatical to develop C3 WRC . Meanwhile, semi-works Abu Dhabi Total WRT participated in eight European rallies. Meeke, who had signed a three-year contract with Citroën, Lefebvre and Al-Qassimi drove some races, as well as Craig Breen . The car for the 2019 season was a Citroën C3 WRC driven by Sébastien Ogier and Esapekka Lappi with Julien Ingrassia and Janne Ferm as their co-drivers. At

832-562: The C4 in the following year and began to dominate from 2008, winning the championship every year until 2012 . Director Fréquelin retired at the end of 2007 and was replaced by Olivier Quesnel . In 2009, the Citroën Junior Team was established as a second team, giving drives to youngsters and customers including Sébastien Ogier , Conrad Rautenbach and Kimi Räikkönen . Citroën Sport was renamed in 2009 as part of an overhaul of

884-629: The Championship, collecting eight podiums during the season. It was their first season without a win after 13 successful seasons in a row. Østberg and Meeke continued as factory drivers. Loeb made a guest appearance in the Monte Carlo rally. He challenged Ogier for win at first but punctured his tyre. Also Citroën's protégé Stéphane Lefebvre drove for manufacturer points in Rally Australia, replacing injured Østberg, and he also drove

936-701: The Citroën Top Driver series, a non-FIA cup that ran on WRC rallies in 2013. Also in 2014, the Citroën World Touring Car Team began a three-season entry in the FIA World Touring Car Championship , winning the manufacturer's title and the driver's title through José María López every year. Loeb was employed as lead driver as he reduced his world rally participation in 2013, and reigning WTCC champion Yvan Muller joined as teammate. The programme

988-569: The DS3. Throughout summer 2017, Citroën Racing Technologies employed factory Citroën drivers Stéphane Lefebvre and Craig Breen as part of the development team for the C3, along with Yoann Bonato , who was hired for the project. The first working model was completed in September of 2017, and a month later the test C3 made its public debut at the Rallye du Var , with Bonato driving a few stages as

1040-527: The Drivers' Championship. Duval took his debut win at the Rally Australia. Citroën took the Manufacturers' championship. For 2006, Citroën WRT took a one-year sabbatical, while developing a new car for 2007. Loeb was joined by Xavier Pons and third-driver Dani Sordo at the semi-privateer team Kronos Citroën , which received significant funding from Citroën Sport running their Xsara WRC cars. Sordo

1092-434: The Manufacturers' championship. Sainz won on Rally Argentina and finished fourth in the standings. For the 2005 season, the primary drivers were Loeb and François Duval . Due to a string of poor performances, Duval was replaced by Sainz for Turkey and Greece. Loeb won the rallies of Monte Carlo, New Zealand , Italia Sardinia , Cyprus, Turkey, Acropolis , Argentina, Deutschland, France and Catalunya on his way to winning

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1144-579: The Myherin stage which destroyed the car, although he and co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen were uninjured. Sordo had a disappointing final rally for the Citroën Team finishing 7th after a time penalty early on in the event. Norwegian driver Mads Østberg , Kris Meeke from Northern Ireland, and Khalid Al Qassimi from UAE, competed for Citroën in 2014 driving the DS3 WRC. Citroën Racing finished second in

1196-711: The Paris–Moscow–Beijing Rally. In addition, Citroën won the Pharaons Rally in 1991 and the Tunisia rally in 1992. Citro%C3%ABn C3 R5 The Citroën C3 Rally2 (originally known as the Citroën C3 R5 ) is a rally car built by Citroën World Rally Team . It is based upon the Citroën C3 road car and is built to R5 regulations . The car made its début at the 2018 Tour de Corse where it

1248-718: The Rally de Portugal but he was disqualified due to his clutch and turbo being deemed illegal. Red Bull's sponsorship moved to Volkswagen Motorsport as the Citroën team began a new long term partnership with Abu Dhabi Racing . The season started off with a win at the Monte Carlo Rally for Sébastien Loeb, who was only competing in 4 rallies in what was due to be his final WRC season, whilst teammates Hirvonen and Sordo placed 5th and 3rd. In Sweden, Hirvonen and Sordo both crashed out, and Loeb narrowly missed out on another win as he

1300-570: The World Rally Championship with the all new C4 WRC , driven by Loeb and Sordo. Loeb diced with Ford 's Marcus Grönholm throughout the year, only securing his record-equaling fourth straight Drivers' title at the final event, the Rally GB . Loeb won in Monte Carlo , Mexico, Portugal, Argentina, Germany, Spain, France and Ireland . Sordo ended the season in 4th place. At the end of the season, Guy Fréquelin resigned as team principal, and

1352-608: The Xsara Kit Cars into four-wheel drive World Rally Cars, intending to contest the 2001 World Rally Championship for Manufacturers, however the owners of the company, PSA Group, forbid the application. The Citroën Xsara T4 WRC was entered into selected rounds of the WRC, debuting at Rally Catalunya . Bugalski would have won but for a time penalty applied in dubious circumstances. Jesús Puras won in Corsica, while at San Remo Sébastien Loeb finished second on his first rally in

1404-637: The Xsara at Rallye Deutschland . The team also got a third-place finish on the Safari Rally with Thomas Radstrom . Citroën Total World Rally Team contested their first full year in the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers in 2003, having previously competed occasionally as Automobiles Citroën . They signed former World Champion drivers Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz from Ford to join Loeb. Bugalski

1456-479: The car, but the car's class was banned by FISA president Jean-Marie Ballestre after 1986 which ended the campaign. Coincidentally, Verrier had challenged Ballestre for the FFSA Presidency in 1984, but lost. The Citroën Sport department was officially established in 1989 with former rally co-driver Guy Fréquelin as its head. His, and the department's initial responsibility was to enter Rally-Raid with

1508-545: The championship "due to the absence of a first-class driver available for the 2020 season". By this point they had already announced they would be withdrawing before the hybrid Rally1 , which they had campaigned in favour of, would become the regulation from 2022. Also in 2019, Citroën entered the WRC2 Pro Championship albeit with only one driver, Mads Østberg , instead of two like the other entries. The team, ran by nominated Belgian company DG Sport , finished

1560-605: The championship in third of three manufacturers. Since 2020, Citroën have not entered any international motorsport series, although have supported drivers such as Østberg, Yohan Rossel , Stéphane Lefebvre and Alejandro Cachón in WRC2 and WRC3 through rally companies such as Saintéloc Racing , PH Sport, DG Sport and Sports & You . In Rally raid , the ZX Rallye Raid won the Constructor's title for Citroën Sport in

1612-661: The company's branding. At the same time, the DS marque was revived as a sub-brand and these models began to be used as the basis for the rally cars. The C4 WRC was replaced by the Citroën DS3 WRC from 2011, which helped to win two more WRC manufacturer championships in 2011 and 2012. After the 2011 season, Quesnel was succeeded by Yves Matton as Team Principal and Director. By 2013, Citroën had WRC, RRC, R5, R3T, R2 and R1 variants of rally cars available to customers. Former Formula 1 driver Robert Kubica won 5 rallies in class of

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1664-544: The decade's energy crises, Citroën reduced motorsport participation during the 1970s. In 1980, former executive secretary of the FFSA , Guy Verrier , was tasked by Citroën to build a World Rally Championship car and team. Verrier, who had driven for Citroën under the leadership of both Cottons, was responsible for the delivery of the Group B Visas and BX 4TC . Citroën withdrew from the championship early in 1986 to further develop

1716-530: The final stage due to a puncture. Meeke showed strong pace again only to destroy his car after rolling down a steep bank. Rallye de France-Alsace was due to be the final rally of Sébastien Loeb's WRC career. The rally would see many different leaders and a rally long battle between Loeb, Sordo, Ogier, Latvala and Neuville. Loeb's rally ended when he rolled the car into trees on the final morning. Sordo came close to another win but missed out to Ogier. Rally de Catalunya would again see Sordo challenging for victory but

1768-519: The first stage of the Acropolis rally, Hirvonen's steering rack failed and came loose resulting in Sordo leading a lone challenge for Citroën, eventually finishing second. In Sardinia, the team struggled to take the challenge to Volkswagen, Hirvonen's DNF and Sordo's 4th place was a disappointing result. Because of a disappointing first half to the season, the team decided to give Ulsterman Kris Meeke

1820-508: The front left suspension broke on his car. Hirvonen managed to finish 3rd on the event. On the final event of the season, Wales Rally GB, recently crowned WRC2 champion and ex- F1 racer Robert Kubica made his WRC car debut with the team. He rolled during the Hafren stage on Friday morning, and subsequently rolled again on the Dyfi stage on Saturday morning. Mikko Hirvonen also had an accident on

1872-553: The hands of Yoann Bonato, the C3 R5 won the French Rally Championship in 2018, and continues to be used by the Citroën World Rally Team in the WRC-2 Pro class of the World Rally Championship, in the hands of Mads Østberg . Østberg would give the C3 R5 its first World Championship-level victory at the 2019 Rally Argentina . Although Citroën withdrew from the World Rally Championship in 2020 , it continued as

1924-432: The new Citroën Total World Rally Team winning the championship ahead of Peugeot as runners up and four other manufacturers. Citroën repeated the success in 2004 and 2005, after which Peugeot left the championship for good. The Citroën World Rally Team semi-withdrew in 2006 , nominating a Kronos Racing entry to compete as a manufacturer in their name whilst they developed a new C4 World Rally Car. They returned fully with

1976-480: The pressure on the still-winless Dani Sordo. Loeb took the driver's crown for the 7th time in a row, while Sordo managed 5th. Alongside Loeb, Sordo and Ogier's individual performances, Citroën took yet another manufacturer title. Loeb was joined by Ogier permanently for 2011, as he replaced Sordo. Ogier and Loeb took 5 wins each with the brand new Citroën DS3 WRC . Loeb finished again on top spot retaining his title for his 8th consecutive time while Ogier finished 3rd in

2028-430: The standings, Citroën also took the manufacturer crown. After Sébastien Ogier's departure to Volkswagen Motorsport , Mikko Hirvonen , released by the departure of Ford Motor Company , was signed by Citroën for 2012, driving the second Citroën DS3 WRC alongside Sébastien Loeb. Loeb took his first victory of the season on the 80th Monte Carlo Rally , and also secured wins in Mexico, Argentina and Greece. Hirvonen also won

2080-709: The team. Hirvonen finished 3rd on tarmac in Germany, his least favourite surface. Sordo was involved in rally long battle with Belgian Thierry Neuville and Finn Jari-Matti Latvala which lasted to the final stage. Sordo held a slim lead, but held on to win his first ever WRC event. It also meant that Citroën were the only team to win ADAC Rallye Deutschland since its addition to the WRC in 2002. Meeke competed in Australia in place of Sordo. Hirvonen had another consistent rally, but dropped from 2nd to 3rd on

2132-498: The then new WRC2 Championship , enough for him to take the title driving a Citroën DS3 Regional Rally Car, essentially a detuned DS3 WRC, prepared and entered by PH Sport . Meanwhile, Sébastien Chardonnet won WRC3 driving a DS3 R3T. In 2014, Citroën won the tender from the FIA to operate Junior WRC for three years. Championship entrants drove DS3 R3T cars which were provided and serviced by Citroën Racing on each rally. This replaced

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2184-450: The three asphalt rallies again, with Citroën also entering the 2-litre World Cup for Manufacturers . Bugalski won not only his class, but also the overall rallies of Catalunya and Corsica, beating the more powerful and four-wheel-drive World Rally Cars . Puras finished runner-up in Corsica. These results are credited with influencing the FIA's decision to ban the class and cup from the WRC at the end of that season. Citroën Sport converted

2236-574: The wheel. Loeb won the championship. The Xsara meanwhile was converted into the Xsara World Rally Car , and with it Citroën Sport entered select rounds of the World Rally Championship in 2001. Jesús Puras and Marc Martí won one, the 2001 Tour de Corse . Parent company PSA were initially reluctant however to allow Citroën to enter the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers, directly facing their other brand, Peugeot. However, in 2003 they relented and both brands were represented, with

2288-523: The winning team manager of the 1959 Monte Carlo Rally , was asked by Citroën to increase participation in rallying with their support. When Citroën began entering motorsport competitions itself in 1965, it effectively formed the Citroën racing department. After Cotton's death in 1971, his wife Marlène succeeded him and was highly qualified having spent twelve years in his employment and inheriting all his personal notes, plans and documents for business and sport activities. Due to their financial troubles and

2340-502: Was also entered in a fourth car on asphalt rallies. The team won the first event of the season, Rallye Monte Carlo, with a 1–2–3 finish with Loeb winning ahead of McRae and Sainz. Loeb also won Rallye Deutschland and Rallye Sanremo . Sainz won the Rally of Turkey . In their first full year, the team took the Manufacturers' championship, while Loeb finished second to Petter Solberg in the Drivers' championship. Sainz finished third and McRae

2392-456: Was cancelled after 2016 in order to focus efforts on WRC again from 2017. The World Rally Team meanwhile took another sabbatical from the WRC in 2016 to focus on development of the C3 WRC for 2017. However, the team's operations continued on most rounds, appearing as Abu Dhabi Total WRT, albeit not in the manufacturer's championship. Matton became FIA Rally Director ahead of the 2018 season and

2444-493: Was denied by fellow Frenchman Ogier in the Volkswagen Polo R WRC . Loeb was absent at Rally Guanajuato México, meanwhile Hirvonen finished second with Sordo in fourth. During the next rally in Portugal, Sordo clipped a tree that ended his challenge whilst battling with Ogier. Hirvonen inherited a successive 2nd-place finish. The 33rd Rally Argentina would see the return of Loeb, who took a commanding final victory. During

2496-768: Was driven by the French crews of Stéphane Lefebvre and Gabin Moreau , and Yoann Bonato and Benjamin Boulloud . In early 2017, Citroën began the development of the C3 R5. The C3 would be designed to improve on the previous offerings of Groupe PSA in the R5 discipline, the Peugeot 208 T16 and the Citroën DS3 R5 , both of which proved problematic and unpopular with R5 customers. The C3 had little relation to its predecessor,

2548-516: Was replaced by Pierre Budar . The C3 was not successful in the new era of World Rally Car from 2017, and the marque finished fourth of four in the championship two years running. The team dropped Kris Meeke midway through 2018 after a series of crashes raised safety and risk concerns. They improved one place to finish third in 2019 thanks to the signing of former Junior driver and six-time world champion Sébastien Ogier . However, Ogier walked away from his two-year contract after only one year thanks to

2600-501: Was replaced by Olivier Quesnel. Loeb and Sordo continued as the team's drivers, whereas drinks company Red Bull joined the team as main sponsor. At the 2008 Monte Carlo Rally , Loeb won, while Sordo suffered engine trouble, and was forced to retire, rejoining under the Superally rules. The season culminated in the team winning both the drivers' (Loeb) and manufacturers' titles ahead of Mikko Hirvonen and Ford respectively. In

2652-630: Was seventh. Citroën reduced their team for 2004, due to new WRC rules that manufacturer teams could only enter two drivers at each rally. Loeb and Sainz were the two drivers retained, and McRae was dropped. Loeb won the Monte Carlo Rally , the Swedish Rally , the Cyprus Rally , the Rally of Turkey , Rallye Deutschland and Rally Australia . Sainz won at Rally Argentina . Loeb won his first Drivers' championship. The team took

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2704-470: Was soon promoted to second driver over Pons. Meanwhile, Loeb again won the Drivers' title, despite missing events in Turkey, Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain after breaking his arm in a mountain biking accident. He was replaced by former world champion Colin McRae for Turkey, who was then replaced by Pons for Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain. For the 2007 season, Citroën officially re-entered

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