Category: Citroen

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Citroen WRC

Citroën confirms WRC entry until 2011

Citroen to continue in WRC for at least two more years

In some good news for the WRC Citroën Racing have announced they will be extending their commitment to the series until at least 2011.

With four manufacturers’ championships and, of course, five drivers’ titles for Sébastien Loeb, I guess the old adage of “when you’re on a good thing, stick to it” applies here.

Citroën say competing in the WRC allows them to showcase “Créative Technologie” philosophy. Director of Citroën Racing, Olivier Quesnel, said, “In the current difficult financial climate, it is important to keep on expressing ourselves through motorsport and through the victories of our teams and cars.

“The FIA World Rally Championship, where the costs remain contained, is an excellent promotional vehicle for the Company. Citroën Racing is delighted by the trust that has been placed in us by Citroën’s board of directors and the PSA Group.”

Quesnel is confident there will be no changes to the team’s driver pairings, “We are currently working with our existing driver line-up to renew their contracts. I am confident that Sébastien Loeb and Dani Sordo will be continuing their adventure with Citroën Racing into the future.”

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Citroen Motor Shows

GTbyCITROËN to make Goodwood FoS appearance

GT by CITROEN in London

In yet another case of art imitating life, or in this case life imitating art, the GTbyCITROËN will be on show at this weekend’s Goodwood Festival of Speed.

This crazy, angular looking behemoth was originally created for the latest iteration of Sony’s iconic PlayStation game, Gran Turismo 5. Now, Citroën’s latest GT has come to life as this recent appearance on the streets of London shows.

In addition, the GTbyCITROËN is scheduled to make five runs up the famous Goodwood hill climb course during the event, with the first run planned for Friday morning (UK time).

Five-time FIA World Rally Champion, Sébastien Loeb, will also be on show attacking the hill climb in his C4 WRC on Saturday morning. Along with Dani Sordo, Loeb will also make a number of runs through the purpose-built Forest Rally Stage.

Check out a video of the GTbyCITROËN roaming the streets of London, in reality and in fiction, after the jump.

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Citroen

2010 Citroën C3 – due in Australia mid next year

2010 Citroen C3

Holy massive glass windscreen Batman! Take a look at it will you, it’s ridiculous. Not necessarily in a bad way, but ridiculous nonetheless.

Australian readers will have to wait until mid 2010 to judge for themselves, but right now you have to congratulate Citroën for honouring their roots and taking a hatchet to accepted car design wisdom. The obscenely large “Zenith” screen opens the field of view by an extra 80° to front seat occupants.

The compact class hatch is just 3.94m long and a narrow, but not tiny, 1.71m wide. Coupled with a relatively small turning circle the car will find its place in tight city streets. How very Parisian.

The car will launch in Europe this November and will enter the market with a bunch of electronic trickery and smart interior appointments. Initially, the C3 will be powered by a diesel four cylinder emitting less than 100g/km of CO2.

More detail closer to launch.

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Citroen WRC

Greece frightening

World Rally Championship series leader Sebastien Loeb has spectacularly crashed out of the Acropolis Rally in Greece, as this footage shows. The incident happened yesterday, on the opening stage of day two. Loeb, recently awarded France’s highest civilian honour, was the Acropolis winner in 2008 and his chances of defending that title were well and truly smashed to pieces with this high speed accident.

Thankfully, Loeb and co-driver, Daniel Elena, are okay with both men able to immediately free themselves from the wreckage. Ford’s Mikko Hirvonen currently leads the rally.

Extra footage of Loeb’s crash can be seen on the Eurosport website.

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Citroen

Citröen DS Inside lives up to its name

Citroen DS Inside Concept

In February this year Citröen revealed images of its new DS Inside Concept. Only, back then, they didn’t show us the inside at all, just the outside.

Citröen have now rectified that problem by sending interior images to AUSmotive HQ. The car is due for launch in early 2010 they say. So, a public showing at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September could be on the cards.

After the nifty looking outside I was expecting a bit more flair on the inside, especially for a concept car. The MINI-esque styling cues are still there. The textured ‘haute-couture’ leather dash won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but I think it could be a nice touch. Okay, maybe the leather roof is pushing things a bit too far, but it is a show car after all.

The seats are a bit crazy looking with the overstyled patterns in the leather, but there’s no reason to expect they won’t be comfortable. Other design details inside are well executed, though, especially the metal lever on the front seats to gain access to the rear of the car.

So, on reflection maybe this concept is not so much concept as it is pre-production car. On that basis, the DS Inside Concept, in visual form at least, gets the AUSmotive tick of approval.

Have a look at the images and video after the jump and let us know what do you think.

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Citroen News WRC

Arise Sir Sebastien

Sebastien Loeb

Five-time World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb has been awarded his country’s highest public honor, the ‘Légion d’honneur’. Presented by French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, the title is the French equivalent to a knighthood.

Speaking at the awards ceremony Loeb said, “This award is given to an individual, but I would like to share it with each and every member of the Citroën team. Every time that we hear the French National Anthem played at the end of a rally, we all feel exactly the same pride at having showcased France to the best of all our abilities. I hope now that I can continue to worthily represent my country by claiming a sixth consecutive World Rally Championship title at the end of this year.”

With a near perfect start to the 2009 season, which includes five wins from six starts, I dare say that sixth title can already be pencilled in.

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Citroen News WRC

Citroën jumps to Atkinson’s aid

Citroen offers Chris Atkinson lifeline

Australia’s Chris Atkinson received a nice Christmas present recently with news Citroën will offer him a drive in the opening rally of the 2009 season.

Atkinson will drive for Citroën’s Junior Team in Rally Ireland which runs from 30 January–1 February next year. While he has only been confirmed for the one race so far, a statement on Citroën Sport’s website offers hope of more to come, “we will be joined in Ireland by Australia’s Chris Atkinson who is already a familiar face in the sport. It is our belief that our association with Chris will not stop there.”

The 29-year-old Australian driver claimed five podium finishes during the 2008 WRC season and his drive at Rally Ireland will see him behind the wheel of the championship winning C4 WRC. This will provide a great opportunity for Atkinson to benchmark himself against five-time world title winner Sebastien Loeb.

Citroën Sport’s full statement can be read below.

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