MONTE-CARLO

SÉBASTIEN LOEB KICKS OFF THE 2015 SEASON AT RALLYE MONTE-CARLO!

 

• It’s the big story of the opening round of the 2015 season: Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena will be competing at the Rallye Monte-Carlo in a DS 3 WRC.
•  For this one-off appearance, the nine-time World Champions have been nominated to score points for the Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT alongside Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle.
• A third DS 3 WRC will be driven by Mads Østberg and Jonas Andersson. Last year’s Junior WRC champion, Stéphane Lefebvre – alongside co-driver Stéphane Prévot – begins his season in a DS 3 R5.
• The DS 3 WRCs will all feature a new livery celebrating the 60th anniversary of DS.

 

New season, new colours… and the return of two familiar faces! Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena return to action in a DS 3 WRC to contest the Rallye Monte-Carlo. The legendary crew, winners of nine world titles and 78 rallies (including seven wins in Monaco), is set to cause a stir with the Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team.

To start the new season, several significant upgrades have been made to all three of the DS 3 WRCs entered: engine, suspension, aerodynamics, gearbox, etc. “The DS 3 WRC is a very accomplished car, but we have worked hard to make it even more competitive,” commented Xavier Mestelan-Pinon, Citroën Racing’s Technical Director. “For example, we have focussed our efforts on the engine so that it delivers more power and torque, whilst also improving reliability. Taking advantage of the changes in the regulations, we have reintroduced steering wheel-mounted paddles for the gear changes. Other significant improvements have been made to the aerodynamics, with a new spoiler and a new front end that will be introduced shortly, as well as to the weight distribution with the use of lighter parts. Lastly, we have altered the kinematics of the rear suspension. Work is ong oing and, in the next few months, we will be presenting another aerodynamic upgrade.”

The sporting regulations have also been changed for 2015. At each event, the running order for the crews will mirror the championship standings on the Friday and Saturday. On the final day, the reverse order of the overall rally standings (for P1 and P2 drivers) will be used. In Rally2 (rejoining the rally after a retirement), the penalty applied has been increased from 5 to 7 minutes for each stage missed. And the cars allowed to rejoin will be first on the road. Another important point: it is now forbidden to relay information and split times to the crews during the stages.