Category: Citroen

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Citroen WRC

Sebastien Ogier wins Rally Jordan

Sebastien Ogier, 2011 Rally Jordan

Citroën works driver Sebastien Ogier has backed up his victory in Portugal by winning Rally Jordan on the weekend. It was a nail biting finish in the end and Ogier’s winning margin of just 0.2 seconds over Ford’s Jari-Matti Latvala is the closest in WRC history. World champ Sebastien Loeb had to make do with third place, although he now leads the driver’s standings.

It’s a tightly packed leaderboard at the moment and Loeb sits on 74 points, two ahead of Ford’s Miko Hirvonen. On 69 points is race winner Ogier, himself a narrow three points clear of Latvala.

There’s more from Citroën after the break. The next rally takes place in Sardinia, Italy (5–8 May) and will mark the full race debut of the MINI WRC.

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Citroen WRC

Sebastien Ogier wins Rally Portugal

Sebastien Ogier

The other Sebastien at Citroën has made up for his disappointment at Rally Mexico by claiming a comfortable win at Rally Portugal on the weekend. Ogier drove a tactically astute race and finished more than 30 seconds ahead of his more decorated compatriot and DS3 WRC teammate Sebastien Loeb.

Ford driver Miko Hirvonen finished fourth, allowing him to cling onto the championship lead with 58 points, although he now shares that honour with Loeb. Fellow Ford competitor Jari Matti Latvala sits in third on 48 points, while Ogier is fourth with a tally of 41 points.

The next rally will take place in Jordan during mid-April.

There’s more from Citroën after the break.

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Citroen WRC

Sebastien Loeb wins Rally Mexico

Sebastien Loeb

Sebastien Loeb has quickly erased the poor start to his 2011 WRC campaign by winning Rally Mexico. The six-time world champ is now in second place on the standings behind Mikko Hirvonen, Rally Sweden winner, who finished second in Mexico ahead of his Ford team mate Jari Matti Latvala.

It was the maiden win for Loeb in his new Citroën DS3 WRC who reluctantly accepted his fifth Rally Mexico success after team mate Sebastien Ogier crashed out on the last day while leading the event.

“Seeing Sébastien and Julian on the side of the road didn’t give me much pleasure. We could have fought till the very end and it’s a pity it finished like that. We went back into the lead of the rally with more than 1m 30s in hand over Mikko. We just nursed it home,” said Loeb.

A brief post-race interview with Loeb can be seen at the Citroën WRC website.

[Pic: Citroën WRC]

UPDATE: A press release from Citroën UK has been added below.

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Citroen MINI Renault Vauxhall Video Volkswagen

VIDEO: Evo tests Citroën DS3 Racing against hot hatch rivals

Evo hot hatch test

Just in case we had forgotten Chris Harris spent a bit of time piloting a factory Porsche GT3 around the Nürburgring last year he is back wearing a team jacket to tell us how the Citroën DS3 Racing compares against its hot hatch rivals; namely the MINI John Cooper Works, Renaultsport Clio 200 Cup, Vaxhaull Corsa VXR and Volkswagen Polo GTI.

The clip gives quite a good introduction to each of the cars, even if the script pretty much follows expectations. Check it out after the break.

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Citroen WRC

Sebastien Loeb – World Rally Champion again in 2010!

Sebastien Loeb - 2010 WRC winner

A quick shout out to Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena who won their seventh consecutive World Rally Championship by claiming an outright win in the Rally of France on the weekend. It marks an amazing run of successes, which includes most titles, most successive titles, most wins, most wins in one season, most successive wins in one season, most consecutive wins on one event. That boy Loeb can drive!

For added emotion Loeb the event took in the town of Haguenau where Loeb was raised. Thousands of well-wishers surrounded the nearby liaison stages ensuring Loeb knew his success was being appreciated, “There were people everywhere on the road, and at the stage. It was rather moving,” he said.

There are still two rallies left on the 2010 calendar, but already the Citroën Racing team has given the all-conquering C4 WRC a fitting send off. Its replacement, the DS3 WRC, also made its public debut over the weekend at the latest world motor show, which is being held in Paris – where else!

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Citroen Motor Shows WRC

Paris 2010: Citroën DS3 WRC

Citroen DS3 WRC

Citroën has just fired back at MINI by releasing new images of its 2011 DS3 WRC. It looks pretty cool, too, but I think the MINI WRC is still a bit better. Of course, with eleventy-times champion Sebastien Loeb at the wheel, the DS3 WRC is sure to be the car to beat next year.

The full reveal of the DS3 WRC will take place very soon at the Paris Motor Show. More pics after the break.

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Citroen WRC

Citroën previews new DS3 WRC

Citroen DS3 WRC teaser

Citroën has offered a brief video tease of their new DS3-based WRC weapon. It’s not much, of course, just a 34 second YouTube clip. But you do get glimpses of the car’s twin deck rear spoiler and dashboard layout. The side profile above is shown for about one second, as well. The full reveal is set for 30 September, so stay tuned for more details then.

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Citroen

Citroën DS3 – Australian pricing & specs

Citroen DS3 DSport

Citroën has launched its funky little DS3 to the Australian market. The French usually get it right when it comes to hatchbacks, but the DS3 represents one of the more serious attempts to raise their sights to the premium segment. And Citroën has its sights firmly set on MINI.

Miles Williams, General Manager for Citroën in Australia, pretty much admits that with this comment, “The DS3 is a bold, definitive statement of intent for Citroën and a confident step in the opposite direction to its main competitors; it brings a real alternative to a market sector dominated by retro designs.”

Mind, this next comment from Williams could equally apply to the MINI brand, “DS3 is about modernity, creativity, individual style and a driving experience packed with personality. DS3 dares to be different – whilst delivering the comfort, quality, technology and ecologically considerate performance for which Citroën is widely recognised.” Williams is right, though, the DS3 is different and it does bring new life to the premium compact market.

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Citroen

Citroën DS3 R3 wins class at Mont Blanc

Citroen DS3 R3

In addition to his IRC duties with Peugeot new MINI WRC signing Kris Meeke has been building his experience by moonlighting with Citroën as they develop their DS3 R3 rally car. Meeke and the DS3 R3 spent the weekend driving through the French Alps and managed to be the quickest two-wheel drive car at the Rallye du Mont Blanc.

The Citroën DS3 R3 made a successful competition debut by winning its class at the Ulster Rally a few weeks ago.

Australians will get a taste of the funky and fresh DS3 road car later this week, too, so there’ll be more news from Citroën in the coming days.

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Citroen WRC

The air up there

Citroen Racing

Citroën Racing have released their favourite top ten “big air” images from their time in WRC. Some of the images are quite spectacular, as the pic above from Sebastien Ogier in Turkey shows. Check the rest out after the, erm, jump. Make sure you click on each pic for the full 2000px super image.

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Citroen WRC

Citroën confirms all-Sebastien WRC line up for 2011

Citroen DS3 R3

In other WRC news there will be change at Citroën Racing for the 2011 season, but it won’t be in their driver line up. Both Sebastien Loeb and Sebastien Ogier have been re-signed for next year. However, changes in WRC specifications will dictate the arrival of a new rally weapon from the dominant French team.

Out goes the highly successful C4 WRC and in comes the new rally-prepped DS3 WRC. The new car will maintain all-wheel drive, but will be fitted with a 1.6 litre turbocharged four cylinder motor, down from the current 2.0 litre capacity.

Despite conquering every mountain the WRC series has posed Loeb is as motivated as ever, “Of course, it’s no secret that we’re already working flat out on the new Citroën DS3, and I can’t wait to see where it stands in relation to its rivals. In the meantime, winning my seventh consecutive world title is my main objective.”

Ogier, too, is looking forward to getting behind the wheel of the new machine, “I’m thrilled at the idea of driving the new generation World Rally Cars, and of defending the colours of the make at the topmost level.”

Full release after the break.

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Citroen Green Machines

Citroën Survolt electrifies Le Mans

Citroen Survolt

It is Bastille Day today, after all. So what better way for this humble blog to celebrate than with these new images of the Citroën Survolt lapping around the famous Le Mans circuit.

The Survolt is an all-electric beast offering 224kW and a zero to one hundred time under five seconds. Perhaps more impressively the Survolt has a range of 200kms and, with a fancy adaptor thingy, can be recharged in as little as two hours.

Vanina Ickx was the lady at the wheel for the promo event and said, “I am very proud to have participated in this unique project. On the track it felt really good. It’s a real race car, with a very promising potential for the future.”

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