Atkinson secures Citroën drive for Rally Finland

Chris Atkinson has secured a temporary drive with the Qatar World Rally Team for Rally Finland (2–4 August). Regular driver Nasser Al Attiyah will be competing for Qatar at the London Olympics and, rather than let the Citroën DS3 WRC sit idle, the former Subaru works driver and his co-driver, Stéphane Prévot, have been thrown the keys.

Benoit Nogier, Head of Citroën Racing Technologies, explains they have maintained contact with Atkinson for the last few years: “Ever since Chris Atkinson took part in the 2009 Rally Ireland in a C4 WRC, we have kept in touch and maintained good relations with him.

“As Nasser’s Citroën DS3 WRC was available for this rally, we offered Chris the chance to lease the car and compete for the Qatar World Rally Team. We are therefore very pleased to have him back with us in one of our Customer Racing teams for one of the championship’s flagship events.”

As you’d expect Chris is raring to go and hopes to make the most of his opportunity: “We are really looking forward to racing with the Qatar World Rally Team. Competing in the best rally in the Championship in the best WRC is a superb opportunity and I can’t wait to test the car to share my feeling for it with the team and give them my initial feedback.

“We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, but we have got everything it takes to go after a good result here.”

With any luck Chris and Stéphane will enjoy a trouble free run; we wish him all the best.

[Source: Citroën]