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Citroën announced today that they will actually join the FIA World Touring Car Championship from the next season, and that nine-time World Rally champion Sébastien Loeb will be part of the team.
“Competing in a category for the first time, starting from scratch, gives our division a superb challenge,” confirmed Yves Matton, Citroën Racing Team Principal. “We will be able to re-use a large part of our existing expertise, starting with the DS3 WRC’s 1.6-litre direct injection turbo engine. Work has already begun in our Versailles technical centre and is set to be stepped up in the coming weeks, with the first tests of our car and the start of our development programme to prepare for the 2014 season.”
Sébastien Loeb has made no secret of his enthusiasm about tackling this challenge: “It’s a bit of a dream to think that we are going to write a new chapter in our history. I can’t wait to get out on track in the car and start testing. I have used this transitional year to try out various experiences and to improve my track driving skills. I don’t expect to win straight away, but I am determined to get there one day.”
Loeb completed the 5.1-mile qualifying run in 3m26.728s, 23 seconds ahead of Romain Dumas, who was driving a Norma prototype in the unlimited class, which includes 13 cars this year.
"Sebastien completed two clean qualifying runs with no problems at all," said Peugeot's project chief Jean-Christophe Pallier. "We're happy with the set-up of the car but we're not taking anything at all for granted."I'm sure we not seen the ultimate pace of our rivals yet. Now the target is to stay fully focussed to achieve our objectives.
